Faculty Bibliography

Acting as a pneumatic tissue expander, progressive preoperative pneumoperitoneum (PPP) pressurizes the abdomen to prepare patients with giant hernias and loss of domain for hernia repair. We review our experience with PPP. Between 2006 and 2008, a prospective hernia database revealed nine patients who underwent PPP prior to hernia repair. Mean patient age was 54 years (41-68) and mean BMI was 31.3 kg/m2 (25.2-36.5). Patients had prophylactic vena cava filters and intraperitoneal catheters placed. Over a mean 22.4 days (7-64), patients received 7.6 (3-13) injections of air. PPP complications included death from pulmonary mycetoma (1), deep venous thrombosis and acute renal failure (1), port infection (1), kinked catheter requiring reoperation (1). Seven patients underwent successful hernia repair; open ventral (6) and laparoscopic inguinal (1). Defect size averaged 387 cm2 (110-980) with a mesh size of 420 cm (180-1200). Operative time averaged 256 minutes (175-330) with a mean blood loss of 157 ml (50-500). Post-hernia repair length of stay was 10.3 days (4-22). Hernia repair complications included ventricular tachycardia (1) and hernia recurrence (1). PPP has an acceptable risk, and for patients with large hernias and loss of domain, it may be a useful adjunct prior to definitive hernia repair.

Mesh contamination is the most feared postoperative complication after ventral herniorrhaphy. The morbidity is significant requiring additional operative procedures for debridement or complete removal of the prosthesis. From July 1998 to December 2007, a retrospective review was performed to evaluate the incidence of mesh infection in patients undergoing an elective, open intra-abdominal sublay technique of repair using a composite mesh of polypropylene and expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (Composix, Davol, Inc., Cranston, RI). There were 206 procedures involving open, intraperitoneal placement of Composix mesh resulting in 21 mesh infections (10.2%). The majority of infections were secondary to Staphylococcus aureus contamination (76%), and over half were infected with MRSA. All patients, except two, required mesh removal. Reoperation for repair of the recurrent defect after mesh removal was necessary in 67 per cent. Two patients with MRSA infection subsequently reinfected their recurrent repair. Overall, the infected group required 44 additional procedures (mean of 2.1 procedures/patient). The infection risk was reduced with the lighter density, newer generation composite mesh (7.3% vs 14.5%). Mesh infection after ventral herniorrhaphy conveys significant morbidity. An open intraabdominal underlay of a composite mesh of polypropylene and ePTFE carries a real risk of contamination and should be reconsidered.

Although surgeons can safely perform endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), it has fallen within the domain of gastroenterologists. We sought to quantify the role of ERCP in a tertiary-care surgery department. The hospital discharge database was queried for all ERCPs performed from January 2007 to December 2007. Gastroenterologists performed all ERCPs in our query. Surgical patients were admitted and/or under the care of a surgeon; whereas nonsurgical patients had no surgeon involvement. Patient characteristics and diagnoses were compared between groups. ERCP procedural details were recorded. Surgical patients comprised 48 per cent (n = 151) of the total 311 ERCPs performed. The mean time interval from a surgeon's request for ERCP to actual procedure was 2.43 days (standard deviation [SD] 2.55; range, 0-13 days). The surgical group had significantly different diagnoses and underwent less diagnostic (22% vs 56%) and more therapeutic ERCPs (72% vs 38%). Surgical patients were more likely inpatients (82.1% vs 16.8%) with a longer length of stay (6.7 vs 3.9 days; P = 0.0029) compared with nonsurgical patients. We found surgical patients requiring ERCP differ significantly from nonsurgical patients, with a significant number of technical interventions being outsourced. Given the benefits of a surgical ERCP program and the potential volume of these unique patients, this procedure should be performed by appropriately trained surgeons.

OBJECTIVE:Deep-seated supratentorial intraparenchymal and intraventricular brain lesions can be difficult to access without causing significant trauma to the overlying cortex and intervening white matter tracts. Traditional brain retractors use multiple blades, which do not exert pressure in an equally distributed fashion. Tubular retractors offer an advantage. Although a commercially available frame-based tubular retractor system is on the market (COMPASS; Compass, Inc., Rochester, MN), we modified existing off-the-shelf equipment at our institution into a frameless tubular brain retractor. METHODS:We used 14- to 22-mm METRx (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN) tubular retractors in combination with a frameless stereotactic navigation system to remove 10 deep lesions. Histological findings included 6 periventricular metastases, 1 insular glioblastoma multiforme, 1 periventricular glioblastoma multiforme, 1 intraventricular meningioma, and 1 hippocampal cavernous malformation. RESULTS:Radiographic gross total resection was achieved in all patients. One patient experienced a transient worsening of an existing preoperative Wernicke's aphasia; otherwise, there were no intra- or postoperative complications. One patient with radiographic gross total resection of a metastatic lesion experienced a local recurrence of disease, requiring stereotactic radiosurgery. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:A frameless stereotactic tubular retractor system for deep brain lesions can be assembled with equipment already available at many institutions. Use of this system can decrease incision and craniotomy size, decrease retractor-induced trauma to overlying cortex, and help prevent damage to underlying white matter tracts.

With the elderly population rising continuously, surgeons are increasingly confronted by the dilemma of operative management in these patients, which frequently encompasses end-of-life issues. Increasing age and emergent surgery are known risk factors for poor outcomes in colon surgery. The purpose of this study is to delineate differences in outcomes between emergent and elective colon surgery and identify risk factors that can guide the surgeon in caring for the extreme elderly (age 80 years or older). From 2001 to 2006, a retrospective review of the resident database at Greenville Hospital System identified 104 extreme elderly patients who underwent colon surgery (65 elective, 39 emergent). Comparing elective and emergent operations, results showed substantial differences in morbidity (20% vs 51.2%, P < 0.001), 30-day mortality rate (7.7% vs 30.7%, P < 0.005), and length of stay (13.6 days vs 21.6 days, P < 0.004). Percentage of patients discharged to home was significantly less in the emergent group (13% vs 59%, P < 0.001). Evaluation of the emergent surgery group revealed male gender, history of smoking, and ischemic changes on pathologic examination were statistically significant risk factors for failure of surgery. As a result of the high-risk nature of emergent colon operations in the extreme elderly, it is important that surgeons carefully assess the benefits in relation to the risks and functional outcomes of surgery when planning patient care and providing informed consent.

With the increased use of CT, discovering incidental pancreatic lesions has become commonplace. Lesions in the distal pancreas lend themselves well to laparoscopic resection. We reviewed our experience with laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy. During the study period, 32 distal pancreatectomies were performed. There were 20 females. Mean patient age was 58.0 years (range, 23-83 years) and mean body mass index was 29.9 Kg/m2 (range, 19.9-44.7 Kg/m2). Technique was laparoscopic (25) or hand-assisted (seven) with one conversion in each group. The spleen was preserved in six patients (18.8%). Mean operative time overall was 238 minutes (range, 140-515 minutes); hand-assisted was 222 minutes and laparoscopic was 254 minutes. Estimated blood loss averaged 221 mL (range, 50-1800 mL). Mean tumor size was 2.7 cm (range, 0.6-7 cm). Tumor pathology was serous cystadenoma (10), neuroendocrine tumor (six), mucinous cystic neoplasm (four), intrapapillary mucinous neoplasm (four), adenocarcinoma (three), other (four), and solid pseudopapillary neoplasm (one). Mean length of stay was 5 days (range, 3-11 days). Complications were pancreatic fistula (six), wound infection (two), pulmonary embolism (one), pancreatitis (one), myocardial infarction (one), postoperative bleed from combined laparoscopic bilateral oophorectomy (one), and pancreatic stump staple line bleed requiring reoperation (one). There were no perioperative deaths. All pancreatic fistulas resolved with conservative management.

Kinesthetic motion appears in tasks ranging from minimally invasive surgical procedures to patient rehabilitation. In this work, a comparative study is performed using two training paradigms for kinesthetic tasks. Subjects are trained to learn a complex 3D path through either the haptic method or the visual method. After the training period, subjects trace the learned 3D path without any feedback. Performance is evaluated primarily based on path deviation and time. Results indicate that haptically trained users have significantly higher performance than visually trained users. Other relevant results are also presented that can have a significant effect in the design of haptics-based interaction systems.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:As laparoscopy continues to permeate general surgery, there is an increased need for residents to acquire advanced laparoscopic skills during a surgical training program. To underscore its importance, the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) recently increased the requirements for laparoscopy from 34 to 60 basic cases and from 0 to 25 advanced cases. With this in mind, the purpose of this study is to assess the impact of an organized minimally invasive surgical service on the volume of advanced laparoscopic cases of a general surgery residency program. METHODS:In July 2005 an independent minimally invasive surgical service, consisting of a fellowship-trained laparoscopic surgeon and 3 general surgery residents was instituted in an otherwise stable academic general surgery residency program. A retrospective review of the general resident's operative database was performed from 2001 to 2006 to assess the impact of this service on the volume of advanced laparoscopic cases of graduating chief residents. RESULTS:In the 4 years before the initiation of the minimally invasive service, the operative volume remained flat despite a stable training program and steady population growth. In the year after the formation of the dedicated service, the mean number of advanced cases performed by the graduating chief residents more than doubled, from 17.7 cases in each of the 2 years before, to 35.6 cases, fulfilling the ACGME requirements. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:The number of advanced laparoscopic cases per resident in this otherwise stable general surgery residency program substantially increased with the incorporation of a dedicated minimally invasive service led by a fellowship-trained laparoscopic surgeon. These data suggest that the volume increases needed to satisfy ACGME requirements may only be possible by creation of such a training experience dedicated to advanced laparoscopy.

We aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing laparoscopic esophageal myotomy for achalasia and identify the factors that might predict postoperative dysphagia or symptomatic reflux. A retrospective analysis of all patients undergoing laparoscopic Heller myotomy from January 1997 to June 2004 was performed. Postoperative frequency and severity of reflux, dysphagia, chest pain, and regurgitation were evaluated using a standardized telephone interview. Forty-eight males and 53 females, with an average age of 45 years, underwent laparoscopic Heller myotomy during the study period. Prior to presentation, 65% of patients had undergone pneumatic dilatation (52%) and/or Botox injection (28%). The mean lower esophageal sphincter pressure was 44 mmHg. A Toupet fundoplication was performed in 89 patients, and 12 patients had no fundoplication. There were no intraoperative complications and 10 minor postoperative complications. During an average follow-up of 34 months (range 2-90), 15% of patients had a weekly dysphagia, and 16% had subjective reflux. Only an older age predicted higher incidence of postoperative dysphagia. No factors were identified to predict postoperative symptomatic reflux. Eighty-one percent of patients rated their outcome as excellent, 14% good, 4% fair, and 1% poor. Ninety-nine percent of patients would choose surgery over other treatment options again. Laparoscopic anterior esophageal myotomy is a safe and effective treatment for achalasia. Improvement in dysphagia can be expected in more than 95% of patients. Younger patients tended to have better improvement of dysphagia. Predicting the patients at higher risk for postoperative reflux remains elusive at this time.

Laparoscopic ventral hernia repair requires an intraperitoneal prosthetic; however, these materials are not without consequences. We evaluated host reaction to intraperitoneal placement of various prosthetics and the functional outcomes in an animal model. Mesh (n = 15 per mesh type) was implanted on intact peritoneum in New Zealand white rabbits. The mesh types included ePTFE (DualMesh), ePTFE and polypropylene (Composix), polypropylene and oxidized regenerated cellulose (Proceed), and polypropylene (Marlex). Adhesion formation was evaluated at 1, 4, 8, and 16 weeks using 2-mm mini-laparoscopy. Adhesion area, adhesion tenacity, prosthetic shrinkage, and compliance were evaluated after mesh explantation at 16 weeks. DualMesh had significantly less adhesions than Proceed, Composix, or Marlex at 1, 4, 8, and 16 weeks (P < 0.0001). Marlex had significantly more adhesions than other meshes at each time point (P < 0.0001). There were no statistically significant differences in adhesions between Proceed and Composix meshes. After mesh explantation, the mean area of adhesions for Proceed (4.6%) was less than for Marlex (21.7%; P = 0.001). The adhesions to Marlex were statistically more tenacious than the DualMesh and Composix groups. Overall prosthetic shrinkage was statistically greater for DualMesh (34.7%) than for the remaining mesh types (P < 0.01). Mesh compliance was similar between the groups. Prosthetic materials demonstrate a wide variety of characteristics when placed inside the abdomen. Marlex formed more adhesions with greater tenacity than the other mesh types. DualMesh resulted in minimal adhesions, but it shrank more than the other mesh types. Each prosthetic generates a varied host reaction. Better understanding of these reactions can allow a suitable prosthetic to be chosen for a given patient in clinical practice.