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A time-honored praxis is to insert a T-tube after open choledochotomy. Well-known complications of T-tube removal include bile leakage, peritonitis, sepsis and postoperative biliary stenosis. A retained T-tube fragment after surgical common bile duct exploration is an uncommon complication of T-tube removal. We report the first case of retained bile duct stones with a whole T-tube jammed into the biliary tree. A 31-year-old female with gallstone disease was operated on. The operation was started by laparoscopy but converted to open laparotomy because of perforation of the gallbladder. T-tube was inserted but several stones remained in the bile duct. Afterwards routine T-tube removal was impossible: the T-tube had become trapped in the common bile duct. This combination of complications was successfully treated by ERCP.

Background: Adjustable gastric banding is currently the most common bariatric operation. This study is a retrospective analysis of the Finnish experience with this procedure over the last 10 years., Methods: Between March 1993 and June 1999, 123 patients underwent either open (36) or laparoscopic (87) surgery for morbid obesity by the application of an adjustable gastric band. Data on preoperative clinical characteristics and postoperative outcome and weight-loss patterns up to 9 years (mean 55 months) are presented and also evaluated by the Bariatric Analysis and Reporting Outcome System (BAROS). Sex ratio was 31% males / 69% females, mean age 44 years and mean +/- SD preoperative BMI 49 +/- 8 kg/m(2) (range 33.6-85.1)., Results: During the evaluation period (March 1993 December 2002), 54% of patients experienced postoperative complications requiring hospital treatment >or= 7 days, and 52% underwent a reoperation. 33% of bands were removed. The most important late complications were esophagitis (30%), obstruction due to slippage / pouch dilatation (21%), incisional hernia (9%) and band erosion (9%). Mean excess weight loss at 1 and 2 year follow-up was 36% and 38%, which later stabilized to 30%. During the evaluation period, there were 10 deaths, 2 of which were 30-day deaths, and the remainder were not associated with the band. According to BAROS, the outcome was regarded as "very good" in 3%, "good" in 7%, "fair" in 40% and "failure" in 50%., Conclusion: Our long-term data found that weight reduction is acceptable,but the incidence of late complications and reoperations was high.

The aim of the present prospective study was to evaluate the clinical value ol serum tumour markers CEA, CA 50 and CA 242 in patients with colorectal cancer (n = 138) and patients with benign gastrointestinal disease (n = 104). The cutoff levels (90% specificity) determined for each test were 2.5 ng/ml for CEA, 17 U/ml for CA 50 and 17 U/ml for CA 242. The diagnostic sensitivity of the CEA test was 0.63, that of the CA 50 test was 0.30 and 0.30 for the CA 242 test in detecting colorectal cancer. CEA, CA 50 and CA 242 tests were tested in a multivariate analysis to find the best combination of independent predictors of colorectal cancer. The most important predictor of colorectal cancer was CEA followed by CA 242. In order to calculate the contributions of tumour marker tests, a diagnostic score (DS) was developed. The sensitivity of the DS in detecting colorectal cancer was 0.47 with a specificity of 0.88 and an efficiency of 0.67. On the basis of this study, serum CEA and CA 242 seem to possess diagnostic value in preoperative evaluation of patients with colorectal cancer.

The occurrence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) was studied by the 125-I-fibrinogen uptake test in 38 patients subjected to retropubic prostatectomy. The patients were randomly allocated to two groups: continuous lumbar epidural analgesia for up to 24 hours and general anaesthesia with intermittent positive pressure ventilation. Two of the 17 patients in the epidural group (12%) developed DVT in contrast 11 of the 21 patients in the general anaesthetic group (51%). The difference between the groups was significant. It is concluded that epidural analgesia offers a protection against postoperative DVT and is worth further investigation.

Eighty consecutive patients with endoscopically proven gastric ulcer were randomly assigned to treatment with sucralfate, 1 g four times daily, or cimetidine, 200 mg three times daily and 400 mg at night. The patients were endoscoped after four and eight weeks by an examiner who was unaware of the treatment in use. Of the 40 patients assigned to each treatment group, 2 in the sucralfate and 4 in the cimetidine group were withdrawn due to the finding of gastric cancer in the biopsies. Two patients in the sucralfate and 3 patients in the cimetidine group interrupted treatment. Complete ulcer healing was found after four weeks of treatment in 17 of the 36 patients (47%) in the sucralfate and in 16 of the 33 patients (48%) in the cimetidine group. The cumulative healing rate after 8 weeks of treatment was 80% in the sucralfate group and 73% in the cimetidine group. There were no serious side effects, but it was necessary to discontinue treatment with cimetidine in two subjects because of rash in one and dizziness in the other. The results suggest that sucralfate is an effective and safe drug for the treatment of gastric ulcer and that its efficacy is equivalent to that of cimetidine.

A 51-year-old woman with a history of several years' watery diarrhoea caused by a vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) secreting tumour of the pancreas (VIPoma) is presented. Measured stool outputs ranged from 1000 to 2600 ml/24 h. S-K 2.5 mmol/I. The pancreatic VIPoma was localised by abdominal angiography and removed. The plasma concentration of vasoactive intestinal peptide was 80 pmol/l before and 5 pmol/I after the operation (normal under 30 pmol/I). The patient has been symptom-free for 15 months since surgery.

Eighty-eight patients with endoscopically proven and healed duodenal or pyloric ulcer were randomly allocated into a double-blind, placebo-controlled, 12-month maintenance trial to determine whether sucralfate, 1 g twice daily, can be used to prevent a recurrence of ulceration. The patients were assessed endoscopically at three, six, and 12 months, or earlier if a symptomatic relapse occurred. Serum aluminum levels were also monitored. Sixteen patients were excluded from the study during the follow-up: nine of 41 in the sucralfate group, and seven of 47 in the placebo group. The groups did not differ with respect to age, sex, or smoking. The cumulative relapse rates in the sucralfate group were 28 percent after three months, 33 percent after six months, and 45 percent after 12 months, as compared with 49 percent (p less than 0.05), 64 percent (p less than 0.01), and 68 percent (p less than 0.05), respectively, in the placebo group. It is concluded that 1 g sucralfate twice daily is more effective than a placebo and is safe for the maintenance treatment of duodenal and pyloric ulcer disease.

Twenty-three patients who had been given a proximal gastric vagotomy and 29 patients who had had an antrectomy were examined periodically for 5 years after their operations for duodenal ulcers. Five years after surgery, 83% of the proximal gastric vagotomy patients and 86% of the antrectomy and selective vagotomy patients were included in Visick grades I-II. We found 4/24 recurrent ulcers in the vagotomy group and 1/29 in the antrectomy group; in addition 3 of the antrectomy patients had to be reoperated. Acid secretion was reduced by 54% in the vagotomy patients and by over 90% in the antrectomized patients. In the group that had had a proximal gastric vagotomy, maximal acid secretion in the insulin test decreased by 78%. Body weight did not decrease and haematological status did not worsen in either group. Intestinal absorption of fat, xylose and vitamin B12, serum calcium levels and urinary excretion did not change during the follow-up. One year after the operation, the level of serum alkaline phosphatase had risen, and urinary excretion of hydroxyproline had increased in the resected group but after five years, these values were unchanged. Mineral density of bone unchanged decreased significantly in both groups. We conclude that during five years after surgery antrectomy with selective vagotomy does not cause more metabolic disturbances than proximal gastric vagotomy, but is followed by more mechanical problems than proximal gastric vagotomy.

The effect of lumbar epidural analgesia and of general anaesthesia on the peroperative velocity of flow in the femoral vein was measured with Doppler ultrasound technique in 38 patients undergoing retropubic prostatectomy. The patients were randomly allocated to the epidural or the general procedure. The 125I-fibrinogen test was used to detect deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Epidural analgesia was associated with a significant (ca. 120%) increase in the femoral venous flow velocity. The peak flow showed a moderate (47%) increase, whereas the minimum flow was greatly increased (188%). The increase was significant already 2 min after induction of the analgesia and the rate continued to rise for about 11 min. General anaesthesia significantly reduced the flow velocity in the femoral vein. Immediately after induction of the anaesthesia the velocity approached zero, but gradually rose, and after about 8 min was stabilized at level 40% below the preoperative velocity. The peak flow velocity in all patients of this group fell by 24 to 40%. Only 2 of 17 patients with epidural analgesia, but 11 of 21 with general anaesthesia had postoperative DVT. In the 11 patients with DVT the mean minimum velocity of flow was decreased (by 85%), but in the 10 without DVT it was increased (by 175%). The difference was not statistically significant. Increased velocity of flow in the femoral vein, especially of minimum flow, seems to counteract development of DVT.