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Differentiated thyroid carcinoma accounts for 90% of all thyroid cancers and occurs as papillary carcinoma in 90% of cases. It was shown as this is characterized by an excellent long-term prognosis, although in follow-up long series, were described recurrence rates up to 35%. Although in the past has not been attributed prognostic significance to the lymph nodes, in the last decade has shown how these can affect the rate of locoregional recurrence of differentiated thyroid carcinoma. This renewed interest in lymph node metastatic disease has prompted a shift in surgical treatments more aggressive, with a view to achieving a low incidence of locoregional recurrence. Analyzing the more recent guidelines formulated at the international level, we can highlight how we gradually consolidated the role of prophylactic central compartment lymphadenectomy in the surgical treatment of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma. The aim of this treatment, in fact, is not only to reduce the mortality of patients, but to obtain an adequate staging, facilitate radiotherapy treatment, obtain undetectable thyroglobulin levels, avoiding the need for repeated reiterventi, made more simple follow-up. All these objectives can be achieved by careful surgery. Total thyroidectomy associated with prophylactic lymphadenectomy of the central compartment was found to achieve these objectives, although in the absence of data from randomized trials, its role remains controversial.

Malnutrition is often a major clinical problem in patients affected by IBD. Assessment of nutritional status should be routinely carried out in these patients and, in case of severe malnutrition, artificial nutrition should be used. In ulcerative colitis and in Crohn disease localized to colonic segments both Parenteral Nutrition (PN) and Enteral Nutrition (EN) have similar results as support treatments but they have no primary therapeutic effects and then they are indicated only in case of severe malnutrition and/or when a surgical procedure is planned. Some theoretical advantages derived from supplementation of short chain fatty acids and omega3-series is still debated. More evident are the advantages of nutritional support in Crohn enteritis. Both PN and EN have a role as a primary therapy capable to induce remission although these results are not prolonged in time when nutrition is not associated with pharmacological treatments. Experiments of pharmaco-nutrition with glutamine and fish fatty acid have to be validated in the clinical practice. In case of integrity of the small bowel and tolerance of the patient, EN is preferable to PN for its lower costs and reduced related complications. PN is still indicated in more severe cases or in acute phase when the need of restoring rapidly the hydroelectrolitic and nitrogen/caloric balance prevails.

Background: The aim of this study was to ascertain the utility of echo-Doppler in the analysis of the low resistance thyroid vascularization in diffuse toxic goiter (DTG), and the effectiveness of Lugol's solution (iodine-iodide solution) in patients undergoing thyroidectomy., Study Design: Twenty-five patients with diffuse toxic goiter were evaluated and compared with 19 normal subjects. Patients were treated with increasing doses of Lugol's solution 2% for 7 days until a total dose of 75 mg of iodine was given. Echo-Doppler was performed on the last day of treatment, 12 hours before operation., Results: Mean basal Doppler Resistance Index (RI) of intrathyroid arterial flow was significantly lower in patients with DTG compared with normal controls (0.4718 +/- 0.0625 versus 0.55 +/- 0.05, range: 0.472 to 0.643; p = 0.008). Moreover, the RI was significantly increased in patients with DTG after Lugol's solution (+16.46 +/- 10.22%, range: -2.59 to +39.97; p< 0.0005)., Conclusions: Echo-Doppler RI allowed documenting lower arterial resistances within the thyroid gland in patients with DTG. The use of preoperative Lugol's solution therapy induces normalization of those changes for safer thyroidectomy.

Background: It is known that factors other than thyroid-stimulating hormone, such as insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and epidermal growth factor, have a goitrogenic effect. It has been established that insulin-like growth factor-binding proteins (IGFBPs) may play a role as autocrine/paracrine factors in regulating the local actions of IGFs. Both an inhibitory and a stimulatory effect for different IGFBPs have been shown in several cell systems. The aim of this study was to assess the involvement of IGFBPs in the goitrogenic process in patients with goiter recurrence., Methods: The IGFBP-1 and -3 content in normal and nodular tissues obtained at the time of thyroidectomy from 10 patients with recurrent goiters, unresponsive to thyroid-stimulating hormone suppressive therapy, was studied. In all patients, a fragment of normal tissue was also obtained. The IGF-I, IGFBP-1, and -3 content was evaluated by specific immunoassays and/or immunoblotting with anti-IGFBP specific antiserum., Results: The IGF-I content was significantly higher (P < .05) in nodular tissues (8.0 +/- 1.6 ng/g of tissue) than what was found in normal tissue (4.8 +/- 0.9 ng/g). Radioimmunoassay IGFBP-3 concentration in nodular tissue was 111.5 +/- 18.2 ng/g significantly higher (P < .001) than values found in normal tissue (77.5 +/- 18.6 ng/g). By immunoblot, IGFBP-1 appeared higher in all but 1 nodular tissue., Conclusions: These data raise the possibility that IGFBPs are important in the proliferative activities entailed in the goitrogenic process. Three mechanisms are potentially involved: (1) reduction of the potency of locally produced IGF peptide to downregulate type I receptors (potentiating effect on the autocrine/paracrine mitogenic action of IGFs); (2) increase of the IGF-I tissue concentration restraining its passage to circulation; and (3) protection of IGF-I from degradation. Further studies are needed to define a more precise link between these factors and the recurrence of goiter.

Objective: To find out by studying a homogeneous group of patients whether euthyroidism is achievable by surgical treatment of diffuse toxic goitre., Design: Retrospective study., Setting: Teaching hospital, Italy., Subjects: 128 of the 152 patients operated on for diffuse toxic goitre during the period January 1971-December 1994 and followed up for a median of 83 months (range 6-289). INTERVENTION. Standard subtotal thyroidectomy., Main Outcome Measures: Operative mortality, recurrence, hypothyroidism and late complications., Results: There were no operative deaths. After 10 years follow up, 11 patients (9%) had developed recurrences and 61 (48%) were euthyroid. In the univariate analysis the risk of hypothyroidism was significantly associated with the year of operation (p = 0.04), the duration of symptoms (p < 0.01), and the degree of lymphocytic infiltration (p < 0.01). The last two were confirmed by multivariate analysis., Conclusion: Subtotal thyroidectomy seems to be an effective treatment of diffuse toxic goitre as a stable euthyroid state can be achieved in nearly half the patients after a prolonged follow up.

Leiomyosarcoma of the small bowel is a rare malignant neoplasm, representing only the 8%-22% of duodenal malignancy. Diagnosis is difficult and useful is the TC scan of upper abdomen for the localization, extension and organ origin of the neoplasm. The authors report a clinical case of leiomyosarcoma of III portion of the duodenum, arose with intestinal hemorrhage, treated surgically with duodenocephalopancreatectomy, that nowadays represent the only therapeutic treatment for these tumors.

Reoperative surgery for thyroid disease still plays a predominant role in the treatment of goiter recurrences. At the moment, neither useful biological nor clinical indicators exist to prevent such recurrences. The effectiveness of TSH-suppressive therapy is still debatable and some authors have proposed total thyroidectomy for this benign disease in order to eliminate the risk of relapse. We analyzed 134 patients who underwent reintervention for recurrence of goitre in order to: 1) study possible clinical or epidemiological characteristics that could influence recurrence, 2) to verify the indications to reoperation, and 3) to evaluate the incidence of complications. For the study of complications, we adopted as a control group a series of 361 patients operated on by the same medical staff and undergoing subtotal thyroidectomy for multinodular goitre, with a minimal follow-up of 10 years. The surgical technique is described and several peculiarities are discussed. In the group of patients who had reoperation two cases (1.5%) of laryngeal palsy and two cases (1.5%) of hypoparathyroidism were recorded and this was not significantly different from the control group. A positive correlation was found between recurrence and young age at the time of first surgery (p < 0.006), female sex (p = 0.045) and esthetic results (p = 0.013). No further clinical recurrence was found in 101 patients after a mean follow-up of 122 months, while in 16 cases the echography revealed nodules in the residual parenchyma. In our opinion total thyroidectomy is not justified as a first standard procedure for this benign disease caused by the activity of various not yet well understood, growth factors.

After investigation of the international literature on this subject, the authors describe a case report of adhesive-stenotic and retractile peritonitis, very likely caused bt a foreign body reaction (surgical stitches, gloves, rice powder, etc.?). This case-report is interesting both to remember the existence of this pathology and to limit its iatrogenic development. In conclusion, it is advisable to wash surgical gloves with sterile solutions and to limit enlarged bowel resections mostly in young people.

The paper describes the carbohydrate, lipidic and nitrogen metabolism of the postoperative period which is subdivided into an early and a late phase. Since the metabolism of caloric substrates in the early postoperative period is a stress metabolism with glucose intolerance and wide protein catabolism, the authors emphasise that an insufficient caloric intake is worse than the fasting state and suggest that alternative caloric sources, such as branched chain amino acids, fatty acids and, even, ketonic bodies, should be used.

Elster's classification differentiates epithelial gastric polyps on the basis of cells origin and relative tendency to change into a malignancy. Out of 3.920 endoscopy of upper digestive tract during the last 10 years, we found 41 gastric polyps, 50% asymptomatic. Endoscopic polypectomy were performed in 61% of cases, without any complication. The other 39% were followed-up and/or surgically resected, according to the results of biopsy. Endoscopy is mandatory for detection of lesions often asymptomatic and histological study of surrounding gastric mucosa. Small polyps must be treated by radical endoscopic polypectomy. If they are too big for endoscopic polypectomy, it's well advised and safer to perform periodic biopsy for hyperplastic type and a surgical resection for adenomatous ones. The detection of intestinal metaplastic or malignant changes beyond basal membrane suggests a resection both subtotal or total according to topography of the lesions. In conclusion the role of endoscopy is well defined in order to clarify histological attributes of gastric epithelial polyps and surrounding mucosal areas. More restricted is its role in the treatment of these lesions.

Until a few years ago, surgical technique and the age-old convictions of oncological radicality rejected very low rectal resections for cancer, particularly as the problem of postoperative incontinence did not exist. Currently, on the other hand, with the advent of mechanical staplers, the surgeon attempts increasingly to reconcile the possibility of using new sphincter-saving techniques with adequate oncological radicality, backed by accurate pre- and intraoperative staging. It is underlined that postoperative assessment of sphincter function in all its aspects, both clinical and instrumental, may be useful for the purpose of clarifying what anatomical structures should really be saved, delegated to retaining sphincter sensitivity and reflexes, so improving the functional results of operations. In addition, the almost rare identification of manifest or latent postoperative incontinence would make it possible to intervene in operated patients, for example by functional reeducation techniques as happens in the relatively recent biofeedback techniques.

The authors review the modern knowledge of sepsis, asepsis and antisepsis in surgery; they underline some surgeon's customary attitudes and convictions no more scientifically significant today.