Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to T D Melendez.
Technical advances in operative laparoscopy are increasing its role in the management of gynecologic malignancies. The feasibility of both para-aortic and pelvic lymphadenectomies, as demonstrated in recent studies, have suggested that complete surgical staging of pelvic malignancies is not far away. We present a review of the progress made to date, and a view of where we need to go.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of a commercially available monitor, the Hewlett-Packard M-1350-A fetal monitor, to record and discriminate between various fetal body movements. STUDY DESIGN: Twenty-four patients between 29 and 42 weeks' gestation were monitored over a 20 to 30 minute period simultaneously by the Hewlett-Packard instrument and ultrasonography. RESULTS: All 593 single or clustered fetal movements recorded by the monitor were seen ultrasonographically as being extremity movements that were either isolated or combined with trunk motion. Discriminating between these two types of movements was not possible on the basis of the duration of recorded movements. All adequate fetal heart rate accelerations were attributed to combined trunk and extremity movements. Detection of fetal hiccups was less exact, and recording of fetal hand, mouth, breathing, and rapid eye movements was beyond the sensitivity of the monitor. Signal artifacts were attributable to either motion of the maternal abdomen or Doppler transducer and became less of a problem with experience. CONCLUSION: Fetal extremity movements were recorded with accuracy by this new fetal monitor.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate our learning-curve experience with laparoscopic management of endometrial carcinoma. METHODS: Retrospective review of our first 125 patients with endometrial cancer who were managed laparoscopically. The patient population was reviewed in a chronological manner, noting patient demographics, operative procedure and times, estimated blood loss, hospital stay, complications, and pathology. RESULTS: Overall, the mean age was 68.6 years (range 29-89), the mean weight was 160 pounds (range 97-328), and the mean Quetelet index was 27.8 (range 17.8-56.4). Metastatic disease was discovered in 28.8% (17/59) of patients with grade 2 or 3 lesions. There was no statistically significant variation in any of these parameters throughout the study. Operative times for staging without lymphadenectomy decreased significantly from a mean of 163 minutes to 99 minutes (p < .001). Operative times for staging with lymphadenectomy decreased from a mean of 196 minutes to 128 minutes (p < 0.02). Hospital stay decreased from a mean of 3.2 days in the first quarter of our study to 1.8 days (p < .0001). The overall average complication rate of 4% (two enterotomies, two cystotomies, and a transected ureter) did not vary. However, the rate of conversion to laparotomy dropped significantly from 8% (2/25) to 0% (0/100). CONCLUSIONS: We found that operative times and hospital stays for laparoscopic staging of endometrial cancer continued to drop after 125 cases. While the ability to detect metastatic disease and the rate of major complications appear unrelated to length of the operator experience, the conversion rate to laparotomy decreases with operator experience. Learning-curve parameters must be recognized by physicians, patients, and researchers for a host of reasons.