Faculty Bibliography

A Commentary on Emergency Surgery at the Epicenter of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND:Laparoscopic best approach of repairing inguinoscrotal hernias are still debatable. Incorrect handling of the distal sac can possibly result in damage to cord structures and negative postoperative outcomes as ischemic orquitis or inguinal neuralgia. AIM/OBJECTIVE:To describe a new technique for a minimally invasive approach to inguinoscrotal hernias and to analyze the preliminary results of patients undergoing the procedure. METHODS:A review of a prospectively maintained database was conducted in patients who underwent minimally invasive repair using the "primary abandon-of-the-sac" (PAS) technique for inguinoscrotal hernias. Patient´s demographics, as well as intraoperative variables and postoperative outcomes were also analyzed. RESULTS:Twenty-six male were submitted to this modified procedure. Mean age of the case series was 53.8 years (range 34-77) and body mass index was 26.8 kg/m2 (range 20.8-34.2). There were no intraoperative complications or conversion. Average length of stay was one day. No surgical site infections, pseudo hydrocele or neuralgia were reported after the procedure and two patients presented seroma. No inguinal hernia recurrence was verified during the mean 21.4 months of follow up. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:The described technique is safe, feasible and reproducible, with good postoperative results.

Objective/UNASSIGNED:To evaluate the use of social media platforms by medical students, surgical trainees, and practicing surgeons for surgical education during the Covid-19 pandemic. Methods/UNASSIGNED:An online, 15-question survey was developed and posted on Facebook and WhatsApp closed surgeon groups. Results/UNASSIGNED:The online survey was completed by 219 participants from South America (87%), North America (7%), Europe (5%), Central America, and Asia. Respondents included medical students (6.4%), surgical residents/fellows (24.2%), and practicing surgeons (69.4%). The most common age group was 35-44 years. When asked which social media platforms they preferred, the video sharing site YouTube (33.3%), the messaging app WhatsApp (21%), and "other" (including videoconferencing sites) (22.3%) were most popular. Respondents reported using social media for surgical education either daily (38.4%) or weekly (45.2%), for an average of 1-5 hours/week. Most (85%) opined that surgical conferences that were cancelled during the pandemic should be made available online, with live discussions. Conclusion/UNASSIGNED:Social media use for surgical education during Covid-19 appears to be increasing and evolving.

Engagement with social media is increasing within medical professionals. There are many different platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Twitter, Telegram, and so on. Social media is a new and important tool for surgical education. More and more surgeons are joining restricted groups to discuss surgical techniques, manuscripts, etc in a daily basis. It is important that residents and surgeons have a very critical opinion about what they look online. Not everything is good or feasible.

BACKGROUND:Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair has been shown to be superior than open repairs with faster return to daily activities and decrease in the occurrence of chronic pain. However, higher direct costs and mandatory use of general anesthesia are arguments against their use. In addition, increased complexity of surgery resulting from an anatomy that is unusual to general surgeons prevents the widespread adoption of laparoscopic approach. AIM/OBJECTIVE:To propose a technical systematization for transabdominal laparoscopic repair (TAPP) of inguinal hernias based on anatomical concepts. METHOD/METHODS:To offer a systematization of TAPP repair based on well defined anatomic landmarks, describing the concept of "inverted Y", identification of five triangles and three zones of dissection, to achieve the "critical view of safety" for laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair. RESULTS:Since this standardization was developed five years ago, many surgeons were trained following these precepts. Reproducibility is high, as far as, it´s rate of adoption among surgeons. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:The concept of the "inverted Y", "Five triangles" and the dissection based in "Three Zones" establish an effective and reproducible standardization of the TAPP technique.

BACKGROUND:Diastasis of the rectus abdominis muscles (DMRA) is frequent and may be associated with abdominal wall hernias. For patients with redudant skin, dermolipectomy and plication of the diastasis is the most commonly used procedure. However, there is a significant group of patients who do not require skin resection or do not want large incisions. AIM/OBJECTIVE:To describe a "new" technique (subcutaneous onlay laparoscopic approach - SCOLA) for the correction of ventral hernias combined with the DMRA plication and to report the initial results of a case series. METHOD/METHODS:SCOLA was applied in 48 patients to correct ventral hernia concomitant to plication of DMRA by pre-aponeurotic endoscopic technique. RESULTS:The mean operative time was 93.5 min. There were no intra-operative complications and no conversion. Seroma was the most frequent complication (n=13, 27%). Only one (2%) had surgical wound infection. After a median follow-up of eight months (2-19), only one (2%) patient presented recurrence of DMRA and one (2%) subcutaneous tissue retraction/fibrosis. Forty-five (93.7%) patients reported being satisfied with outcome. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:The SCOLA technique is a safe, reproducible and effective alternative for patients with abdominal wall hernia associated with DMRA.

Robotic radical prostatectomy (RARP) is well established as a safe and effective treatment for prostate cancer. According to published studies, patients undergoing RARP are at increased risk of being diagnosed with an inguinal hernia after RARP and are four times more likely to have an inguinal hernia repair (IHR) following RARP. Several studies have demonstrated the effectiveness and safety of IHR during RARP. Overall, it has been observed that IHR adds on average, 12-15 min in total surgical time and there were no significant differences between RARP with or without IHR with respect to postoperative complications. This study analyzes a large series of patients undergoing RARP (1100) and compares them to a group that underwent RARP with IHR (39). Between December 2008 and January 2015, 1139 patients underwent RARP at Florida Hospital in Celebration, FL. Of the total patients, 39 underwent concomitant IHR. All procedures were performed by the same surgeons (urologist and general surgeon), using the same techniques of RARP and TAPP inguinal hernia repair. After 30 days, the differences were evaluated between groups regarding surgical time, EBL and postoperative complications. The average age of patients undergoing the procedure was 61.65 years. The mean procedure time was approximately 120 min (min), with an additional period of 68 min for IHR (mean = 188; p = 0.0001). There was a significant difference in BMI between the groups, 28.3 kg/m² for patients undergoing RARP and 26.8 kg/m² for those who underwent RARP and IHR (p = 0.028). The EBL averaged 110.87 mL, with no significant difference between groups (p = 0371). There was no significant association between clinical stage of the patient and the type of procedure performed (p = 12:35). There was no significant difference in the presence of comorbidities and the operation preformed. There were 61 events recorded postoperatively, 57 (5.2%) among patients who underwent only RARP and 4 (10.26%) among those who had both. Taken together, the small amounts of complications in both groups prevent statistical significance. This study compared two groups of patients undergoing RARP: those with IHR and those without. Our study demonstrated an increase in surgical time; however, there was no increase in postoperative complications. From the data presented, we suggest that the performance of both procedures concomitantly is feasible and safe.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES/OBJECTIVE:Inguinal hernia repair is among the most common procedures performed worldwide and the laparoscopic totally extraperitoneal (TEP) approach is a recognized and effective surgical technique. Although technically advantageous because of the option of no mesh fixation and no need for creation of a peritoneal flap resulting, in less postoperative pain and faster recovery, TEP has not achieved the popularity it deserves, mainly because of its complexity and steep learning curve. Minilaparoscopy was first described in the 1990s and has recently gained significantly from better instrumentation that may increase TEP's effectiveness and acceptance. We performed a prospective study, to analyze the outcomes of minilaparoscopy in pain and operative time when compared to the conventional laparoscopic technique in hernia repair. METHODS:Fifty-eight laparoscopic inguinal hernia repairs were performed: 36 by traditional laparoscopic technique and 22 by minilaparoscopic instruments (mini). A study protocol was applied prospectively for data collection. Variables analyzed were early postoperative pain (at hour 6 after procedure), pain at discharge, use of on-demand analgesics, and operative time. RESULTS:The mini group presented reduced early postoperative pain and operative time. The present study also suggests less postoperative pain at discharge with mini procedures, although this difference was not statistically significant. No difference between the groups regarding on-demand use of analgesics was found. CONCLUSIONS:This study corroborates findings in previously published papers that have shown the feasibility of minilaparoscopy in laparoscopic TEP hernia repair and its benefits regarding postoperative pain, operative time, and aesthetic outcomes.