NMF in LIHR does not increase the risk of hernia recurrence. It is comparable with TMF in terms of operation time, post-operative pain, post-operative complications, length of hospital stay and chronic groin pain. Therefore, based upon the results of this review NMF approach may be adopted routinely and safely in LIHR.

SILC does not offer any advantage over CLC for treating benign gallbladder disorders. CLC may be used assiduously for this purpose.

This study has been reported in accordance with the STROBE statement guidelines for the reporting of observational studies. Word count = 2893 (main manuscript) Key points:1)This study sought to determine whether smoking was a risk factor for CRS and whether it has an impact on disease specific quality of life. 2)We found no significant difference in active smoking prevalence by CRS disease (CRSsNPs and CRSwNPs) vs controls. We were able however to demonstrate a significant symptom burden associated with smoking, with significantly worse SNOT-22 scores in the smoking cohort by a mean magnitude of 10 points.3) Cigarette smoke has a deleterious effect on the quality of life and symptom burden of patients with CRS and clinicians should encourage smoking cessation alongside general CRS medical management.

No abstract

A systematic review of randomised, controlled trials investigating the effectiveness of fibrin glue (FG) in reducing the postoperative seroma and seroma related morbidities following breast and axillary surgery was conducted. FG failed to influence the incidence of postoperative seroma, average volume of seroma, wound infection, complications and length of hospital stay in patients undergoing breast cancer surgery. However, a major multicentre and high quality randomised, controlled trial is required to validate these findings.

No abstract

To systematically analyze published randomized trials on the effectiveness of preoperative prophylactic antibiotics in patients undergoing breast surgical procedures. Trials on the effectiveness of preoperative prophylactic antibiotics in patients undergoing breast surgery were selected and analyzed to generate summated data (expressed as risk ratio [RR]) by using RevMan 5.0. Nine randomized controlled trials encompassing 3720 patients undergoing breast surgery were retrieved from the electronic databases. The antibiotics group comprised a total of 1857 patients and non-antibiotics group, 1863 patients. There was no heterogeneity [χ(2) = 7.61, d.f. = 7, p < 0.37; I(2) = 8%] amongst trials. Therefore, in the fixed-effects model (RR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.50-0.83; z = 3.48; p < 0.0005), the use of preoperative prophylactic antibiotics in patients undergoing breast surgical procedures was statistically significant in reducing the incidence of surgical site infection (SSI). Furthermore, in the fixed-effects model (RR, 1.30; 95% CI, 0.89-1.90; z = 1.37; p < 0.17), adverse reactions secondary to the use of prophylactic antibiotics was not statistically significant between the two groups. Preoperative prophylactic antibiotics significantly reduce the risk of SSI after breast surgical procedures. The risk of adverse reactions from prophylactic antibiotic administration is not significant in these patients. Therefore, preoperative prophylactic antibiotics in breast surgery patients may be routinely administered. Further research is required, however, on risk stratification for SSI, timing and duration of prophylaxis, and the need for prophylaxis in patients undergoing breast reconstruction versus no reconstruction.

This study suggests that chronic infection after flap reconstruction in DSWI is associated with late flap cover. We suggest the need for a consensus agreement on the combined care and early management of DSWI.