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Pancreatic cancer has a very poor chance of being radically resected (20-25%) at the time of diagnosis. Palliation has thus proved to be the mode of treatment adopted in the majority of cases. When a radical surgical resection is not feasible, the endoscopic approach is one of the most common options among the therapeutic methods available. Endoscopic palliation for the treatment of jaundice is regarded as the best choice. It is associated with very low morbidity and no mortality. Hospitalization is short and the treatment is also inexpensive compared to other procedures. The authors report on their experience with endoscopic palliation for the treatment of inoperable pancreatic cancer.

We present our clinical experience in the management of rare surgical complications in Crohn's disease. Two hundred and eight patients affected by Crohn's disease were treated surgically between January 1992 and September 2001, at the Department of Surgical and Gastroenterological Sciences of the University of Padua. Rare surgical complications were identified in 17 patients (6.2%): 4 with small intestine adenocarcinoma, 5 with massive gastrointestinal bleeding, 5 with free peritoneal perforation and 3 with psoas abscesses. The very substantial clinical variability of Crohn's disease is a constant challenge to researchers. In particular, the high incidence of associated pathologies and complications related to Crohn's disease makes this pathology extremely disabling. In addition, this disease quite often appears to occur together with a rare complication which, though in most cases its course tends to remain unknown, at times may be potentially life-threatening. For this reason, it is crucial to suspect the occurrence of these pathologies, especially in patients responding poorly to therapy or in those whose symptoms suddenly become acute. Early diagnosis and treatment are therefore fundamental for the most appropriate treatment to be administered.