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Boerhaave syndrome is a rare disease with a mortality rate that varies from 10 to 40%. The typical clinical presentation (vomiting, pain, subcutaneuous emphysema) is relatively infrequent. In the case of atypical clinical presentation CT scan with contrast medium administered per os is fundamental for diagnosis. Though there is no general consensus on therapeutic strategies, prognosis is dependent on time interval between onset and diagnosis. We observed four patients with Boerhaave syndrome with an atypical presentation. The time lapse between acute event and diagnosis was less than 6 hours in two cases, 24 hours in one case and 72 hours in the last. All patients presented abdominal pain at admission, preceeded by vomiting in two cases. In all cases diagnosis was carried out by CT scan. All patients were treated surgically: in one case raffia alone was performed, in two cases raffia was associated with temporal bipolar oesophageal exclusion, one case went through oesophageal resection with delayed reconstruction of digestive continuity. One patient with severe COBP died from post-surgical sepsis. One fistula after cervical recanalisation and another after raffia of the oesophageal lesion were successfully treated with endoscopy. We suggest that an aggressive surgical approach is the best treatment for this rare and often severe disease.

Introduction: Peripancreatic arterial pseudoaneurysm is a rare but potentially lethal complication of severe acute pancreatitis because it can massively bleed into the gastrointestinal tract. Since surgical treatment of such cases has a high mortality, percutaneous angiographic embolization of bleeding artery has recently been advocated as an alternative therapy. We report a case of acute pancreatitis complicated by gastrointestinal hemorrhage due to a ruptured gastroduodenal artery pseudoaneurysm, in which hemostasis was achieved by transcatheter arterial embolization., Clinical Case: A 65-year-old woman was transferred from another hospital with a diagnosis of severe acute biliary pancreatitis, and having had hematemesis. Upper GI endoscopy detected bleeding from the papilla of Vater, and CT showed hemorrhage in a pseudocyst at the pancreatic head. Angiography revealed active bleeding from an arterial pseudoaneurysm of the gastroduodenal artery: hematemesis was considered to result from rupture of the pseudoaneurysm (hemosuccus). Transcatheter arterial embolization was performed by a 2-step procedure, both through the celiac trunk, that was stenotic, and through the superior mesenteric artery, and hemostasis was achieved., Conclusions: We conclude that transcatheter arterial embolization is a minimally invasive and highly effective treatment for acute bleeding from a ruptured pseudoaneurysm secondary to acute pancreatitis.

Our aim was to evaluate the short-term results of a series of 65 consecutive laparoscopic adrenalectomies performed on 63 patients with benign or metastatic tumours measuring < or = 7 cm. The surgical indication was primary hyperaldosteronism in 32 cases, pheochromocytoma in 7, Cushing syndrome and disease in 5 and 2 cases, respectively, incidentaloma in 11 and metastasis in 8 cases. The mean tumour size was 3.9 cm (range 0.6-7). Operative time averaged 130 min (range 45-270). In one case we produced an iatrogenic lesion by sectioning a peripheral recurrent branch of the left renal artery with consequent partial renal infarction. The conversion rate to the open approach was 6.1%; the morbidity rate was 4.6%. The mean hospital stay was 4 days (range 3-11). All patients were re-examined 30 days after surgery and no additional complications were observed. At this time 93.2% of patients with primary secreting tumours showed normal hormonal assays. Considering the 38 patients chronically treated during the preoperative period, we noted that the intake of specific drugs was suspended in 34.2%, reduced in 36.8%, maintained in 26.4% and transitorily augmented in 2.6%. On these basis we confirm the efficacy and safety of this surgical treatment.

Background and Objectives: The incidence of gastric cancer is increasing in the elderly. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of advanced age (> or =80 years) on morbidity, mortality and late outcome after curative surgery for gastric cancer., Methods: The cases of 30 octogenarians (Group A) with gastric cancer who underwent surgical treatment in our Institution from 1990 to 2003 were reviewed and compared to a simultaneous group of 228 younger patients (Group B)., Results: The rate of resective and curative procedures was not different in the two groups, although the American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) risk was significantly higher in the elderly (P < 0.001) and the lymphatic dissection was less extended in group A. In the two groups, the curability was directly correlated to the cancer stage, but not affected by the ASA risk. The postoperative morbidity and mortality rates were similar in the two groups and were not related to the ASA risk. Considering the mortality for gastric cancer alone, the two groups showed a similar survival rate, only correlated to the cancer stage., Conclusions: In the elderly, an oncologically correct surgical procedure can safely be prosecuted with satisfactory immediate and late results.

Twenty-three patients with acute diverticulitis complicated by pericolic or paracolic abscesses (Hinchey stage I-II) after a first phase of medical treatment were treated with deferred elective resection of the descending colon and sigmoid plus colorectal anastomosis performed on average 30 days after the onset of the acute episode. The pathologist's investigation of the surgical specimens demonstrated persistence of severe inflammatory lesions despite the apparently satisfactory clinical outcome. These data explain the frequent recurrences and indicate surgical treatment as being the only therapy capable of definitively resolving the condition. As compared with the emergency surgery performed by others, deferred elective resection makes it possible to operate on patients who, once the acute phase has been overcome, can have their hydroelectrolytic balance perfectly restored and be adequately monitored with treatment of associated diseases and perfect colon preparation. This strategy has allowed us to eliminate operative mortality and reduce the postoperative morbidity, both of which are significantly present in emergency surgical operations. Also the overall hospital stay in the two admissions, the interval between which can be reduced in ideal cases, does not significantly differ from that reported for emergency operations.

According to the experience of the authors, comparison between two consecutive periods (1980-1994 and 1995-2000) has shown a substantial increase in splenic traumas simply treated by observation and monitoring. Their number in fact has risen significantly from 5 to 32. This has allowed a rise in the overall percentage of spleen conservation, which has increased from 16.4% to 52.9%. On the contrary, a reduction in surgical conservative operations has been observed, the number decreasing from 19 to 4. Such treatments require the same clinical conditions as non- operative treatments, but the latter have to be accompanied by efficient organization of intensive care and monitoring, in which surgeons and anesthesists, who are familiar with all the aspects of the problem, collaborate efficiently. Since this kind of organization has been achieved, the number of patients successfully treated without surgery has increased significantly. In a sample of 37 patients receiving non-surgical conservative treatment, the percentage of delayed splenectomies was as low as 5.4%.

The lipohyperplasia of the ileocaecal valve is a condition of rare clinical observation mainly characterized by an abnormal accumulation of adipose tissue along the submucosal layer of the ileocaecal valve. This pathology presents an unspecific symptomatology that can make difficult the differential diagnosis with a local neoplastic process. Sometimes this pathology can be the cause of gastrointestinal bleeding of unknown origin. The Authors report a case of their observation that requested an emergency surgical operation for the massive digestive haemorrage at presentation. The definitive diagnosis could have been precised only after histological exam.

The treatment of acute pancreatitis cannot be standardized in the absence of a prompt diagnosis and of an accurate severity and prognostic score. This study, based on 80 consecutively observed patients, compared the aetiological, clinical, diagnostic (laboratory and imaging) and prognostic data used to select the most appropriate therapy for each patient. The results confirm that the Ranson score shows a satisfactory prognostic relationship between the number of positive parameters and the severity of the disease. Ultrasound, which is useful for defining the aetiologic factors and in the follow-up of peripancreatic effusions, has proved to be limited as a means of imaging abnormalities of the pancreatic parenchyma. CT scans are confirmed as being the only method of accurately demonstrating the presence of necrosis and of evaluating its effective extent. ERCP was performed as soon as possible in the presence of biliary stasis or of suspect ultrasonographic signs. Surgical treatment proved necessary only in 7.5% of cases, on each occasion to drain infected necrotic foci. Promptness of the surgical indication plays an important role in the outcome of necrosectomy and drainage performed with the closed technique. Mortality was limited to 1.25% in our series. A correct diagnostic approach together with prompt treatment can reduce the mortality rate of this disease to a minimum.

Necrotizing infections are rapidly progressive potentially lethal bacterial diseases of the soft tissues. In based on the widely varying levels of soft tissues affected and the variety of the microflora, two types of necrotizing soft tissue infections need to be delineated: pure Chlostridial myonecrosis and other necrotizing soft tissue infections (NSTI). From an etiopathogenetic point of view NSTI can be secondary to perianal or urogenital abscesses, traumatic lesions, wound infections, trophic or decubitus ulcers, oral cavity abscesses; only in a limited number of cases their origin can be idiopathic. Exceptionally it can happen that a NSTI could represent the only clinical manifestation of a retroperitoneal colic perforation. The Authors report their experience regarding two clinical cases recently observed. The first patient, who previously underwent colic resection for sigmoid carcinoma and adjuvant chemotherapy, had developed as only clinical manifestation of retroperitoneal anastomotic fistula a necrotizing infection at the root of the hip, extended along the whole leg. The second patient, with diverticular perforated disease, had developed rhe necrotizing infection in the lumbar region and in the perirenal tissues. Here will be discussed the sensitivity of the possible diagnostic investigative techniques and the therapeutical strategies that brought both the patients to a complete recovery.

Background: This study was conducted to evaluate the results of treatment of vascular trauma of the lower extremities and those factors associated with limb loss., Design: a retrospective evaluation of a series with lower extremities vascular trauma., Setting: University Hospital., Methods: Thirty-one patients accounting for 45 vascular lesions of the lower extremities (27 arterial and 18 venous injuries), over a 15 years period ending December 1998. Age, sex, modality of the trauma, site of the lesion and associated skeletal injuries, diagnostic procedures, ischemic time, arterial and venous repair performed were analyzed., Results: Perioperative mortality was 7.4%. For arterial injuries, limb salvage was obtained in 22 patients (81.5%). Five amputations (18.5%), 1 primary and 4 secondary have been performed. Amputation rate was 26.7% for popliteal lesions versus 8.3% for other locations, 40% when a skeletal lesion was associated versus 5.9% for those without such injuries, 37.5% for reverse saphenous vein interpositions versus 5.6% for arterial repair without interposition., Conclusions: In this study, the factors influencing limb loss in vascular trauma of the lower extremities are popliteal location, the association with skeletal injuries, the need of saphenous vein interposition for arterial repair.

Rupture of the stomach is a rarely reported complication of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The number of cases reported in the literature since 1970 does not exceed 30. We present a recent case of a young woman submitted to cardiopulmonary resuscitation in whom a gastric rupture gave rise to massive pneumoperitoneum with haemodynamic shock and respiratory failure. Major distension of the abdomen and an extensive subcutaneous emphysema were present. After re-establishing the haemodynamic conditions and a diagnostic spiral thoracic-abdomen CT scan, an emergency laparoptomy was performed. We found two linear defects of the lesser curvature of the stomach, which were treated by closure with a primary interrupted two-layer suture. The postoperative recovery was uneventful. Iatrogenic gastric rupture carries a high risk of mortality. A prompt diagnosis and emergency surgical repair are essential for patient survival.

Splenic metastases occurring after primary tumor removal and apparently solitary have been documented only recently in Literature. They are, most of the times, clinically asymptomatic and their presence is casually determined by ultrasonographic follow-up in subjects otherwise in good conditions. The belief that splenic metastases occur only in disseminated cancer is today no longer accepted. Some Authors consider solitary splenic metachronous metastases eligible for surgical treatment as well as pulmonary or hepatic metastases. In the case presented, surgery was required due to abscess formation of a splenic metastasis, which was not responding to chemotherapy. Our experience, like others reported in Literature, verified a long-term post-operative survival in spite of limited disease-free time. Surgical treatment by splenectomy can be indicated in selected patients, considering that chemotherapy has been proved to be ineffective in the treatment of splenic metastases.

The Authors report a retrospective study of 74 splenectomies performed for hematologic diseases. The role of splenectomy has changed over recent years with increased indications for immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). The aim of this study was to assess indications to surgery in relation to clinical presentation with typical hemorrhagic features or severe thrombocytopenia only; interval between onset of symptoms and splenectomy; failure of medical management and complications from steroid administration; scintigraphic studies predictive of response to splenectomy and preoperative treatment in patients with severe thrombocytopenia were also studied. The Authors reported response rates to splenectomy of 84% without mortality and only 11% of postoperative complications. These results encouraged to surgery for treatment of those patients with severe thrombocytopenia, who fail to obtain remission or develop serious complications after medical therapy. The splenectomy cured severe thrombocytopenia also in some patients with acquired immunodeficiency (HIV+). Moreover the Authors discuss the indications in patients with chronic lymphatic leukaemia and lymphoma diseases. In selected patients the splenectomy has the potential to relieve symptoms due to splenomegaly, correct cytopenias, specify hystological diagnosis and modify the disease course of malignant lymphomas. In fact splenomegaly sometimes complicated the course of malignant lymphomas because of hematologic abnormalities that are inconsistent with active chemotherapy.

A case of 34-years old woman with adenocarcinoma of the IVth duodenal segment extended to the angle of Treitz, treated with duodenojejunal segmentary resection, is described. Clinical features and diagnostic strategies are reported. Personal observation compared with Literature confirms the difficulty of an early diagnosis. The most appropriate surgical techniques for the treatment of these particularly and uncommon neoplasms often discovered in advanced stage are discussed. The better prognosis of these adenocarcinomas compared with those of the proximal duodenum (Ist and IInd segments) can be supported by embryological differences currently to be investigated.

Sixty-four consecutive patients with hepatic trauma were examined. Five (7.8%) patients were managed nonoperatively and 59 (92.2%) underwent immediate laparotomy. Nonoperative management is appropriate in hemodinamically stable patients. It requires increasing use of computed tomography instead of peritoneal lavage to evaluate stable patients with blunt abdominal trauma. Patients with complicated associated injuries must be excluded. Analysis of patients who underwent immediate abdominal exploration showed that grade I through grade III injuries of AAST classification are the most common in blunt hepatic trauma (84.75%). Associated intra-abdominal injuries requiring operation for ongoing hemorrhage were observed in 50% of these patients. In the management of grade I through grade III hepatic injuries a simple suture was a safe and highly effective treatment. More complex injuries actively bleeding were controlled by finger fracture technique to achieve intrahepatic hemostasis with selective vascular ligation. Hepatic resection was exceptionally required (2%). On the contrary, resection was required in grade IV injuries with extensive parenchymal destruction and in grade V lesions for a better vascular control of the ruptured suprahepatic veins.