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Bouveret’s syndrome is an unusual clinical presentation of gastric-outlet obstruction and is the most infrequent variant of gallstone ileus with just over 300 cases in the literature. A 73-year-old female presented with innocuous constitutional symptoms and was found to have Mirizzi type Vb, a cholecystoduodenal fistula with obstruction. Esophago-gastroduodenoscopy-attempted dislodgement was unsuccessful. A gastric-jejunal bypass was the only option due to friability of the tissue. On post-op day 5, the patient developed acute abdominal pain and was found to have gallstone ileus. This case emphasizes the importance of early surgical intervention in cases of acute on chronic cholecystitis.

BACKGROUND: Since the role of a hiatal hernia in the pathophysiology of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) has not been fully elucidated, we studied the effects of hiatal hernias on the function of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) and esophageal acid clearance. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Ninety-five consecutive patients with GERD diagnosed by 24-hour pH monitoring underwent upper gastrointestinal series (UGI), endoscopy, and esophageal manometry. Based on the presence (H+) or absence (H-) of a hiatal hernia on UGI series, they were divided into two groups: H+ (n = 51) and H- (n = 44). Then, using the size of the hiatal hernia, the H+ group was divided into three subgroups: I, H 5 cm (n = 6). RESULTS: Esophageal manometry showed that patients with larger hiatal hernias (groups II and III) had a weaker and shorter LES and less effective peristalsis compared to patients with a small or no hiatal hernia. Prolonged pH monitoring showed that patients with larger hiatal hernias were exposed to more refluxed acid and had more severely abnormal acid clearance. Endoscopy showed more severe esophagitis among patients with GERD and hiatal hernia compared with GERD patients without hiatal hernia, and the degree of esophagitis was proportionate to the size of the hernia. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with proven GERD, those with a small hiatal hernia and those with no hiatal hernia had similar abnormalities of LES function and acid clearance. In patients with larger hiatal hernias, however, the LES was shorter and weaker, the amount of reflux was greater, and acid clearance was less efficient. Consequently, the degree of esophagitis was worse in the presence of a large hiatal hernia. Am J Surg. 1996;171:182-186.

Bile duct injury represents a complication after laparoscopic cholecystectomy, impairing quality of life and resulting in subsequent litigations. A five-year experience of bile duct injury repairs in 52 patients at a community hospital was reviewed. Twenty-nine were female, and the median age was 51 years (range, 20–83 years). Strasberg classification identified injuries as Type A (23), B (1), C (1), D (5), E1 (5), E2 (6), E3 (4), E4 (6), and E5 (1). Resolution of the bile duct injury and clinical improvement represent main postoperative outcome measures in our study. The referral time for treatment was within 4 to 14 days of the injury. Type A injury was treated with endobiliary stent placement. The remaining patients required T-tube placement (5), hepaticojejunostomy (20), and primary anastomosis (4). Two patients experienced bile leak after hepaticojejunostomy and were treated and resolved with percutaneous transhepatic drainage. At a median follow-up of 36 months, two patients (Class E4) required percutaneous balloon dilation and endobiliary stent placement for anastomotic stricture. The success of biliary reconstruction after complicated laparoscopic cholecystectomy can be achieved by experienced biliary surgeons with a team approach in a community hospital setting.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease, associated with sliding or large paraesophageal hiatal hernia, represents a common clinical presentation. The repair of large paraesophageal hiatal hernias is still a challenge in minimally invasive surgery. Between March 2014 and August 2016, 50 patients (18 males and 32 females) underwent robotic fundoplication (17 sliding and 33 paraesophageal hernias). The mean age of the patients was 58 years. Biosynthetic mesh was used in 28 patients with paraesophageal hernia. The mean operative time was 115 minutes (90–132) in the sliding hiatal hernia group, whereas it was 200 minutes (180–210) in the paraesophageal hiatal hernia group. The mean hospital stay was 36 hours (24–96). Eight patients experienced mild dysphagia which resolved after four weeks. No postoperative dysphagia was recorded at 30-month median follow-up. We experienced one recurrence in the sliding hernia group and two recurrences in the paraesophageal hernia group, with two patients treated robotically. Robotic fundoplication in treating sliding hiatal hernia is feasible and safe but is more challenging in the large paraesophageal group. Improved patient outcomes hinge on the operative technique used and increasing surgeon experience. The increased dexterity that robotic surgery affords enables the esophageal surgeon to more adeptly apply the traditional principles of laparoscopic fundoplication.

Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair has been shown to have multiple advantages compared with open repair such as less postoperative pain and earlier resume of daily activities with a comparable recurrence rate. We speculate robotic inguinal hernia repair may yield equivalent benefits, while providing the surgeon added dexterity. One hundred consecutive robotic inguinal hernia repairs with mesh were performed with a mean age of 56 years (25–96). Fifty-six unilateral hernias and 22 bilateral hernias were repaired amongst 62 males and 16 females. Polypropylene mesh was used for reconstruction. All but, two patients were completed robotically. Mean operative time was 52 minutes per hernia repair (45–67). Five patients were admitted overnight based on their advanced age. Regular diet was resumed immediately. Postoperative pain was minimal and regular activity was achieved after an average of four days. One patient recurred after three months in our earlier experience and he was repaired robotically. Mean follow-up time was 12 months. These data, compared with laparoscopic approach, suggest similar recurrence rates and postoperative pain. We believe comparative studies with laparoscopic approach need to be performed to assess the role robotic surgery has in the treatment of inguinal hernia repair.

Significant risk factors for recurrence after surgical resection of nonfunctional pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors include tumor grade, stage, Ki-67 index, and CD68 score as a marker of macrophage infiltration. Use of the CD68 score may identify patients with low-grade tumors who are at increased risk for disease recurrence.

Abstract: Laparoscopic fundoplication controls heartburn and regurgitation, but the effects on the respiratory symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) are unclear. Confusion stems from difficulty preoperatively in determining whether cough or wheezing is actually caused by reflux when reflux is found on pH monitoring. To date, there is no proven way to pinpoint a cause-and-effect relationship. The goals of this study were to assess the following: (1) the value of pH monitoring in establishing a correlation between respiratory symptoms and reflux; (2) the predictive value of pH monitoring on the results of surgical treatment; and (3) the outcome of laparoscopic fundoplication on GERD-induced respiratory symptoms. Between October 1992 and October 1998, a total of 340 patients underwent laparoscopic fundoplication for GERD. From the clinical findings alone, respiratory symptoms were thought possibly to be caused by GERD in 39 patients (11 %). These 39 patients had been symptomatic for an average of 134 months. They were all taking H-blocking agents (21 %) or proton pump inhibitors (79%). Seven patients (18%) were also being treated with bronchodilators, alone (3 patients) or in combination with prednisonc (4 patients). Median length of postoperative follow-up was 28 months. In 23 patients (59%) a temporal correlation was found during 24-hour pH monitoring between respiratory symptoms and episodes of reflux. Postoperatively heartburn resolved in 91% of patients, regurgitation in 90% of patients, wheezing in 64% of patients, and cough in 74% of patients. Cough resolved in 19 (83%) of 23 patients in whom a correlation between cough and reflux was found during pH monitoring, but in only 8 (57%) of 14 of patients when this correlation was absent. Cough persisted postoperatively in the two patients who did not cough during the study. These data show that pH monitoring helped to establish a correlation between respiratory symptoms and reflux, and it helped to identify the patients most likely to benefit from antircflux surgery. Following laparoscopic surgery, respiratory symptoms resolved in 83% of patients when a temporal correlation between cough and reflux was found on pH monitoring; heartburn and regurgitation resolved in 90%.

Until recently, pneumatic dilatation andintrasphincteric injection of botulinum toxin (Botox)have been used as initial treatments for achalasia, withmyotomy reserved for patients with residual dysphagia. It is unknown, however, whether thesenonsurgical treatments affect the performance of asubsequent myotomy. We compared the results oflaparoscopic Heller myotomy and Dor fundoplication in 44patients with achalasia who had been treated withmedications (group A, 16 patients), pneumatic dilatation(group B, 18 patients), or botulinum toxin (group C, 10patients). The last group was further subdivided according to whether there was (C2, 4 patients)or was not (C1, 6 patients) a response to the treatment.Results for groups A, B, C1, and C2, respectively, were:anatomic planes identified at surgery (% of patients) — 100%, 89%, 100%, and 25%;esophageal perforation (% of patients) — 0%, 5%,0%, and 50%; hospital stay (hrs)-26 ± 8, 38± 25, 26 ± 11, and 72 ± 65; andexcellent/good results (% of patients) — 87%, 95%, 100%, and50%. These results show that: (1) previous pneumaticdilatation did not affect the results of myotomy; (2) inpatients who did not respond to botulinum toxin, the myotomy was technically straightforward and theoutcome was excellent; (3) in patients who responded tobotulinum toxin, the LES muscle had become fibrotic(perforation occurred more often in this setting, and dysphagia was less predictably improved);and (4) myotomy relieved dysphagia in 91% of patientswho had not been treated with botulinum toxin. Thesedata support a strategy of reserving botulinum toxin for patients who are not candidates forpneumatic dilatation or laparoscopic Hellermyotomy.

Abstract: Malignant pseudoachalasia can be indistinguishable from primary achalasia on routine clinical evaluation, often resulting in a delay in diagnosis. To better define the clinical features and appropriate management of this disease, the course of five patients discovered to have pseudoachalasia after being referred for a minimally invasive Heller myotomy was reviewed, as were 67 cases of pseudoachalasia previously reported in the literature. Patients with an occult malignancy tended to present with shorter durations of symptoms, greater weight loss, and at a more advanced age than patients with primary achalasia. Since contrast radiography and endoscopy frequently failed to differentiate these two diseases, persons with presumed achalasia meeting these criteria who are referred for minimally invasivesurgery should undergo additional imaging to rule out an occult malignancy, since this condition can not be reliably detected during the course ofa thoracoscopic or laparoscopic esophagomyotomy.

Abstract: Barrett’s metaplasia can develop in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and metaplasia can evolve into dysplasia and adenocarcinoma. The optimal treatment for Barrett’s metaplasia and dysplasia is still being debated. The study reported herein was designed to assess the following: (1) the incidence of Barrett’s metaplasia among patients with GERD; (2) the ability of laparoscopic fundoplication to control symptoms in patients with Barrett’s metaplasia; (3) the results of esophagectomy in patients with high-grade dysplasia; and (4) the character of endoscopic follow-up programs of patients with Barrett’s disease being managed by physicians throughout a large geographic region (northern California). Five-hundred thirty-five patients evaluated between October 1989 and February 1997 at the University of California San Francisco Swallowing Center had a diagnosis of GERD established by upper gastrointestinal series, endoscopy, manometry, and pH monitoring. Thirty-eight symptomatic patients with GERD and Barrett’s metaplasia underwent laparoscopic fundoplication. Eleven other consecutive patients with high-grade dysplasia underwent transhiatal esophagectomies. Barrett’s metaplasia was present in 72 (13 %) of the 53 5 patients with GERD. The following results were achieved in patients who underwent laparoscopic fundoplication (n = 38): Heartburn resolved in 95% of patients, regurgitation in 93% of patients, and cough in 100% of patients. With regard to transhiatal esophagectomy (n = 11), the average duration of the operation was 339 ±89 minutes. The only significant complications were two esophageal anastomotic leaks, both of which resolved without sequelae. Mean hospital stay was 14 ±5 days. There were no deaths. The specimens showed high-grade dysplasia in seven patients and invasive adenocarcinoma (undiagnosed preoperatively) in four (36%). These results can be summarized as follows: (1) Barrett’s metaplasia was present in 13 % of patients with GERD being evaluated at a busy diagnostic center; (2) laparoscopic fundoplication was highly successful in controlling symptoms of GERD in patients with Barrett’s metaplasia; (3) in patients with high-grade dysplasia esophagectomy was performed safely (invasive cancer had eluded preoperative endoscopic biopsies in one third of these patients); and (4) even though periodic endoscopic examination of Barrett’s disease is universally recommended, this was actually done in fewer than two thirds of patients being managed by a large number of independent physicians in this geographic area.

Abstract: For more than three decades experts have debated the relative merits of thoracoscopic Heller myotomy (no antireflux procedure) vs. laparoscopic Heller myotomy plus Dor fundoplication for treatment of achalasia. The aim of this study was to compare the results of these two methods with respect to (1) relief of dysphagia, (2) incidence of postoperative gastroesophageal reflux, and (3) hospital course. Sixty patients with esophageal achalasia were operated on between 1991 and 1996. Thirty underwent a thoracoscopic Heller myotomy and 30 had a laparoscopic Heller myotomy with a Dor fundoplication. The two groups were similar with respect to demographic characteristics, clinical findings, and extent of manometric abnormalities. Preoperative pH monitoring showed abnormal reflux in two patients in the laparoscopic group. Average hospital stay was 84 hours for the thoracoscopic group and 42 hours for the laparoscopic group. Excellent (no dysphagia) or good (dysphagia less than once a week) results were obtained in 87% of patients in the thoracoscopic group and in 90% of patients in the laparoscopic group. Postoperative pH monitoring showed abnormal reflux in 6 (60%) of 10 patients in the thoracoscopic group and in 1 (10%) of 10 patients in the laparoscopic group. The two patients in the laparoscopic group who had reflux preoperatively had normal reflux scores postoperatively. Laparoscopic Heller myotomy with Dor fundoplication was found to be superior to thoracoscopic Heller myotomy. Both operations relieved dysphagia, but the laparoscopic approach avoided postoperative reflux and even corrected reflux present preoperatively. In addition, the patients were more comfortable and left the hospital earlier following a laparoscopic myotomy. Whether it is truly possible to perform a Heller myotomy without an antireflux procedure in a way that relieves dysphagia and regularly avoids reflux remains questionable.

OBJECTIVE: To compare medical with minimally invasive surgical therapy in the treatment of primary esophageal motility disorders. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: University-based tertiary care center. PATIENTS: Eighty-nine patients (46 men and 43 women) with either achalasia or nutcracker esophagus and diffuse esophageal spasm (DES). Choice of treatment was based not on randomization but on the preference of the referring physician, the patient's choice, and/or the patient's eligibility to access the University of California, San Francisco, for treatment. INTERVENTIONS: Nineteen patients with achalasia and 30 patients with nutcracker esophagus and DES were treated with dilatations and/or medications. Thirty patients with achalasia and 10 with nutcracker esophagus and DES underwent a thoracoscopic myotomy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Dysphagia, pain, and overall quality of life. RESULTS: In the surgical group, 80% of the patients with nutcracker esophagus and DES and 87% of the patients with achalasia had good or excellent results. In contrast, in the medical group, 26% of the patients with nutcracker esophagus and DES and 26% of the patients with achalasia had good or excellent results. CONCLUSIONS: Surgery by minimally invasive techniques offers a better chance than does medical therapy or dilatation of rendering the patient with achalasia, nutcracker esophagus, and DES asymptomatic.(Arch Surg. 1995;130:609-616)

Abstract: Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) can develop in patients with esophageal achalasia either before treatment or following pneumatic dilatation or Heller myotomy. In this study we assessed the value of pre- and postoperative pH monitoring in identifying GER in patients with esophageal achalasia. Ambulatory pH monitoring was performed preoperatively in 40 patients with achalasia (18 untreated patients and 22 patients after pneumatic dilatation), 27 (68%) of whom complained of heartburn in addition to dysphagia (group A), and postoperatively in 18 of 51 patients who underwent a thoracoscopic (n=30) or laparoscopic (n=21) Heller myotomy (group B). The DeMeester reflux score was abnormal in 14 patients in group A, 13 of whom had been treated previously by pneumatic dilatation. Two types of pH tracings were seen: (1) GER in eight patients (7 of whom had undergone dilatation) and (2) pseudo-GER in six patients (all 6 of whom had undergone dilatation). Therefore 7 (32%) of 22 patients had abnormal GER after pneumatic dilatation. Postoperatively (group B) seven patients had abnormal GER (6 after thoracoscopic and 1 after laparoscopic myotomy). Six of the seven patients were asymptomatic. These findings show that (1) approximately one third of patients treated by pneumatic dilatation had GER; (2) symptoms were an unreliable index of the presence of abnormal GER, so pH monitoring must be performed in order to make this diagnosis; and (3) the preoperative detection of GER in patients with achalasia is important because it influences the choice of operation.

Abstract: Approximately 25% of patients with gastroesophageal reflux, severe enough to be considered for surgical treatment have dysfunction of esophageal peristalsis in addition to dysfunction of the lower esophageal sphincter. A standard total (i.e., Nissen) fundoplication in these patients may be followed by dysphagia, so many experts recommend a partial fundoplication as an alternative. The goal of this study was to compare the clinical results and changes in esophageal function following laparoscopic total and partial fundoplication. Ninety-three patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease had laparoscopic antireflux operations. Total fundoplication was performed in 50 patients with normal esophageal peristalsis. Partial fundoplication was chosen for 43 patients with severe abnormalities of esophageal peristalsis. Partial fundoplication of patients has resolution of heartburn (93%) and regurgitation (97%) after partial as compared to total fundoplication. Dysphagia developed in four patients (8%) after total fundoplication (one patient required dilatation) and in no patients after partial fundoplication. Both operations produced similar changes in lower esophageal sphincter function, but only partial fundoplication was associated with improvement in esophageal dysfunction. Esophageal acid exposure became normal in 92% of patients after total and in 91% of patients after partial fundoplication. Partial fundoplication improves lower esophageal sphincter pressure and esophageal body function and, in patients with abnormal esophageal peristalsis, it corrects reflux without producing dysphagia. Partial and total fundoplication are both indicated in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease, and the choice of which procedure to use should be based on each patient's specific esophageal motor function abnormalities.