Melita G

Incidental gall bladder carcinoma: does the surgical approach influence the outcome?

Background:u2002 The aim of the study was to evaluate the outcome in patients with unsuspected gall bladder carcinoma diagnosed after cholecystectomy, comparing the laparoscopic approach with open surgery.

Pre- and post-operative patient care for transoral thyroidectomy

Endoscopic thyroidectomy (ET) allows surgeons to remove a thyroid tumor from a remote site, while providing excellent results from a cosmetic viewpoint. Minimally invasive surgery is widely employed for the treatment of thyroid diseases. Several minimal access approaches to the thyroid gland have been described. The commonly performed surgeries have been endoscopic lobectomies. We have performed ET trans orally by the inferior vestibular approach. Our preliminary results indicate that ET performed via transoral is a technically feasible and safe procedure with excellent cosmetic results for patients with benign thyroid tumors. In this report, we have summarized a focused on the pre- and post-operative patient care of this procedure.

Thyroidectomy in elderly patients aged ≥70 years

Worldwide, the indications for thyroid surgery have been continuously extended among elderly patients in the last 20 years. The balance between treatment indication and surgical risk is certainly an interesting topic for every thyroid surgeon. This paper is a review of recent literature from January 2005 up to April 2017. We analyzed three principal subjects: indications for surgical treatment, medical complications and surgical complications. We can summarize the conclusions of our analysis, stating that age could not be considered as an absolute factor, but in relation to the comorbidities and the general clinical condition of the patient. Special risk indices dedicated to geriatric patients could be very useful in order to facilitate the decision-making process; however, relying on the current knowledge, we could state that there is value in providing surgery to geriatric patients in highly specialized and high-volume centers, where access to technology and its systematic use, coupled with surgeons experience, could certainly avail the geriatric patient management.