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The article presents a case study of three 11-year-old boys who suffered gunshot wounds to the chest who were transferred to the trauma room. Chest X-rays and computed tomographies showed a presence of a foreign body at the inferior aspect of the heart. The article discusses the treatment for intrapericardial foreign bodies.

Purpose: Bleeding is a dreaded complication of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). At our institution, we use a bleeding protocol (BP) with or without ϵ-amino caproic acid (ACA) for certain prophylactic or therapeutic indications. Subjectively, we have felt that placing a child on bleeding protocol shortens the circuit life because of clot formation. In this study, we evaluated the impact of BP with and without ACA on the survival time of the ECMO circuit. Methods: A retrospective analysis of all ECMO patients treated in our institution from 2000 to 2008 was performed. An event was defined as a change of the ECMO circuit for thrombosis. The times until occurrence of an event were noted for children off (standard) or on bleeding protocol (BP) and ACA (BP+ACA). Survival curves were generated for each of these study groups and compared using the log rank test. Results: A total of 164 patients were treated with ECMO during the study period. 32 events were noted in the standard, 20 in the BP, and 25 in the BP+ACA group. Mean survival time of the circuit was 10.5±3.8 days for the standard, 8.6±3.4 days for the BP, and 9.9±4.6 days for BP+ACA protocols. The corresponding Kaplan- Meier survival curves are shown. The log rank test showed no significant differences between groups (standard vs. BP p = 0.12; standard vs. BP+ACA p = 0.92). Conclusions: We found no evidence that instituting a bleeding protocol with or without aminocaproic acid shortens circuit times. Clotting of the ECMO unit should not be a major concern when placing a patient on a bleeding protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Inguinal hernia repair and pyloromyotomy are among the most common operations performed on children. In the last two decades minimally invasive surgery has been employed for an increasing number of these procedures. This review describes the development of the techniques involved, and their current role in therapy., Material and Methods: A systematic review of the paediatric surgical literature since 1990 was performed on laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair and pyloromyotomy. Relevant publications were summarised., Results: The first laparoscopic pyloromyotomy was described in 1991, the first laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair in children was published in 1998. The learning curve for both procedures is initially steep and reaches a plateau only after about 20 to 30 cases. Both randomised controlled trials and meta-analyses are available comparing the laparoscopic and open techniques for both procedures. The advantages of laparoscopic versus open pyloromyotomy include faster recovery and shorter hospital stay, at similar complication rates. The operation times of laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair are shorter in bilateral cases, while the complication rate again is similar. However, the incidence of metachronous contralateral inguinal hernia is lower after laparoscopic repair., Conclusion: Laparoscopic pyloromyotomy and paediatric inguinal hernia repair require special skills. As a minimum, a surgeon's first 20 cases should therefore be performed under competent supervision. Besides resulting in smaller scars, both procedures have concrete advantages and the same complication rates compared to the open techniques. Therefore, both operations can be regarded as the current gold standard., (Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Background: Diagnostic laparoscopy (DL) of the contralateral side during inguinal herniotomy via the hernia sack may avoid a subsequent second operation. Can this procedure however also reduce costs in the German health care system?, Methods: Prospective analysis was performed of children operated on for inguinal hernia (IH) from March 2006 until October 2007. Using a linear mathematic model, the costs for different scenarios were calculated regarding the risk of contralateral IH. We thereby determined the incidence of contralateral IH at which DL became economically reasonable., Results: A total of 123 unilateral IH operations (IH-OP) were performed in infants during the study period. Of these, 31 patients underwent DL of the contralateral side. Thirteen open hernia sacks were identified and ligated during the same operation. The following costs were calculated: (1) IH-OP without DL, 286 Euro, (2) IH-OP with contralateral DL, 338 Euro, (3) IH-OP with DL and synchronous ligation of the contralateral side, 393 Euro, and (4) metachronous operations of bilateral IH, 572 Euro. The incidence of contralateral hernia described in the literature ranges from 20% to 50%. Linear regression of the relative costs shows an economic advantage for DL with an incidence above 23%., Conclusion: Laparoscopic evaluation of the contralateral side in IH-OP is a rational approach for the patient and makes economic sense in the German health care system.

Patients with peritoneal mesothelioma present with abdominal distension and clinical syndrome of debilitating ascites. Cytology of the peritoneal fluid obtained by laparocentesis often does not result in a diagnosis. Laparoscopy with biopsy of peritoneal nodules is a valuable method by which a histological diagnosis is established. However laparoscopy can greatly complicate the management of peritoneal mesothelioma by facilitating tumor dissemination to port sites. The patient presented was treated with cytoreductive surgery and perioperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy. Although palliation of intra-abdominal tumor and ascites was achieved, port sites-disease required extensive resection of the abdominal wall. Our experience with this patient suggests that if a malignant source of ascites is suspected and a diagnosis is not obtained by paracentesis, laparoscopy should be used to establish a diagnosis. However, trocars should only be placed along the midline of the abdominal wall so that port sites can be excised at the time of cytoreductive surgery. This diagnostic strategy is applicable to the majority of patients undergoing laparoscopy when there is known or suspected intraabdominal malignancy.

OBJECTIVE: An MRI-based technique for non-invasive assessment of the quantitative distribution of articular cartilage in the knee-joint was to be developed, and its accuracy and reproducibility tested. DESIGN: Three cadaveric specimens and one patient were studied and MRI measurements compared with anatomical sections or arthroscopy. BACKGROUND: Data on articular cartilage thickness is needed for the design of computer models, determination of cartilage material properties from arthroscopy and staging of osteoarthrosis. METHODS: The knees were imaged using strongly T2-weighted spin-echo and FISP-3D sequences. After digital subtraction and automatic segmentation, three-dimensional reconstruction of the cartilages was performed. Surface areas, volumes and the mean cartilage thickness were calculated, and the regional distribution displayed after trigonometric correction. RESULTS: The difference between MRI volumes and those obtained from the sections ranged from 4 to 21% with a reproducibility of +/-4 to +/-12% after repositioning. The thickness maps obtained with MRI were very similar to those from the sections. In the patient, a full-thickness defect demonstrated with MRI was verified by arthroscopy. CONCLUSIONS: Using the technique presented, the quantitative distribution of knee-joint cartilage may be analysed non-invasively, accurately, and in a very time-effective manner, in cadavers and in living subjects. RELEVANCE: To date there exists no accepted method for the accurate, fast and non-invasive assessment of articular cartilage thickness. Such a technique is, however, very helpful for generating computer models of diarthrodial joints, determination of cartilage material properties during arthroscopy, staging of joint disease, and objective control of chondroprotective treatment.