Seog-Ki Min

Laparoscopic wedge resection with handsewn closure for gastroduodenal tumors.

PURPOSE To evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of laparoscopic wedge resection with handsewn closure in gastroduodenal tumors. METHODS Laparoscopic wedge resection was performed in 16 patients with gastroduodenal tumor between May 2000 and December 2002. Every case, except one, was performed via an extragastric approach; a transgastric approach was adopted in a single case. Excision of the lesion was performed manually by means of electrocautery or ultrasonic coagulating shears and closed by manual intracorporeal running suture. RESULTS Among the 16 cases, two cases were treated using a laparoscope-assisted method, but there was no case of conversion to open surgery. Mean size of lesions was 27.9 mm in diameter and the mean operation time was 219 minutes. In all cases, a complete tumor excision with negative surgical margins was obtained. The final pathologic diagnoses were ectopic pancreas (4 cases), gastrointestinal stromal tumor (3 cases), leiomyoma (2 cases), adenomyoma (2 cases), tubular adenoma (1 case), Brunners gland hyperplasia (1 case), carcinoid tumor (1 case), eosinophilic granuloma (1 case), and post-endoscopic mucosectomy state for early gastric cancer (1 case). The average numbers of days to first postoperative oral food intake and hospital stay were 3.1 days and 6.0 days, respectively. There were no postoperative complications. CONCLUSIONS Laparoscopic wedge resection with handsewn closure should be considered as a valid treatment option for selected gastroduodenal tumors in terms of feasibility, safety, and cost. A more efficient surgical instrument and technique should be developed in future.

The safety of a laparoscopic cholecystectomy in acute cholecystitis in high‐risk patients older than sixty with stratification based on ASA score

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety of a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) for acute cholecystitis (AC) in patients older than sixty years of age, with stratification based on the ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists) score. For five years, 137 patients older than sixty, who had undergone a LC for AC, were classified into three groups; ASA 1 (n = 33), ASA 2 (n = 79) and ASA 3 (n = 25). Preoperative percutaneous gallbladder drainage was performed in eight of the 137 cases (5.8%). All except one underwent one‐stage management and 19.7% patients underwent emergency surgery within 24 hours of the index admission of AC. The preoperative hospital stay for ASA 3 (8.8 days) was longer than that for ASA 1 (5.6 days). There was a higher proportion of complicated cholecystitis and a longer operating time in ASA 2 (50.6%, 111 min.) and 3 (66.7 %, 114 min.) than in ASA 1 (24.2%, 85 min.) (p<0.05). Morbidity was more frequent in ASA 3 (20.0%) than in ASA 1 (9.1%). However, the open conversion rate, time to diet, and postoperative hospital stay were similar in the three groups (p>0.05). We conclude that a LC for AC may be an effective treatment option in elderly‐high risk patients.