Anomalies of the left renal vein (retroaortic left renal vein and left renal vein collar) and the inferior vena cava (left-sided inferior vena cava and caval duplication) occur relatively infrequently but pose potential hazards to the surgeon during aortic repair. We report the cases of three patients in which one or a combination of these anomalies of the renal vein and inferior vena cava was present. The embryologic origins of each of the anomalies are discussed, and suggestions, both surgical and nonsurgical, are proposed that might aid the surgeon in avoiding injury and subsequent bleeding from these anomalous structures during surgical operations on the abdominal aorta.
Carbon dioxide laser incisions are reported to be less painful, less bloody, and less prone to seroma formation and to heal better than scalpel or electrosurgical incisions. We compared all three modalities in a prospective randomized study of cholecystectomy incisions. Time required for the incision and incisional blood loss was less with electrosurgery than with the carbon dioxide laser or scalpel. Postoperative pain and wound healing, however, were the same for all three techniques. The carbon dioxide laser appears to offer no advantage over conventional means of making a standard incision.
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