Background: A hydatid cyst is still a serious health problem in endemic areas. Invasion of the spleen is rare in hydatid disease. In the medical literature, reports about isolated splenic hydatidoses are quite rare. Also there is not a consensus about the way of treatment. Methods: Between 1978 and 2000, in our clinic approximately 900 patients were operated on for an abdominal hydatidosis; 850 of these patients were treated for a hepatic hydatidosis and 14 patients for an isolated splenic hydatidosis. Six (42.8%) of the latter patients were male and 8 (57.1%) were female. The mean age of the patients was 47.14 ± 4.9 (range 17–72) years. Ten patients (71.4%) presented with a painful mass in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen, and the other 4 patients (28.5%) were asymptomatic and were diagnosed incidentally. Results: All of the patients underwent elective splenectomy. There was no mortality, but complications occurred in 4 (28.5%) patients. The period of hospitalization ranged from 7 to 17 days with a mean of 9.8 days. 1 patient died from an acute myocardial infarction during the 2nd postoperative year, and 1 patient died as a consequence of a traffic accident during the 5th postoperative year. Nine patients, after follow-up periods of between 2 and 14 years, are living free from disease. No recurrence occurred in any of them. In the remaining 3 patients, long-term follow-up could not be maintained. Conclusions: A hydatid cyst must be included in the differential diagnosis of cystic lesions of the spleen. A splenic hydatid cyst should be treated surgically due to the high risk of a rupture, and the ideal procedure in adulthood is standard splenectomy.

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Background/Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties of gastric duplication cysts. Methods: A 38-year-old female patient presented with dyspepsia and repeated episodes of epigastric pain. She was operated with the diagnosis of pancreatic pseudocyst according to her US and CT scans, and found to have a gastric duplication cyst. A cyst about 80×80 mm, localized on the posterior wall of the corpus of the stomach close to the fundus, was dissected from the surrounding tissues and partially from the gastric wall. The cyst did not have muscle layer on the common wall with the stomach, so the cystic mucosa was stripped away from the gastric muscle layer. The gastric lumen was not entered. Results: Although gastric duplication cysts do not have specific symptoms and signs, CT, MR and endoscopic ultrasonography may help the preoperative diagnosis, but the diagnosis is usually confirmed at laparotomy. Needle aspiration may cause complications. Conclusion: Because of the complications that may occur after needle aspiration and malignant potential of the tissue, the treatment of these cysts is surgical.

Ectopic thyroid tissue can be seen anywhere along the path of the descending glands, but it is rarely seen in the abdominal cavity. An ectopic thyroid was encountered incidentally in the pancreas of a 50-year-old woman who underwent a bilateral truncal vagotomy and pyloroplasty for a duodenal ulcer. There were no signs or symptoms of a thyroid tumor.

Aim: In our prospective study the method of partial distal fistulotomy and modified cutting seton for high extrasphincteric perianal fistulae is discussed. Methods: 10 patients (9 males and 1 female) with high extrasphincteric perianal fistulae were treated with partial distal fistulotomy and modified cutting seton. Four or five threads were introduced through the tract; one was tied tightly at the end of the operation, others were tightened every 10th day. While the tied thread cut the tissue, the others drained the tract. The follow-up period ranged from 3 months to 9 years. Results: None of the patients developed major fecal incontinence. 2 of the 10 patients complained of incontinence due to flatus. Conclusion: Distal fistulotomy and modified cutting seton can be used in perianal fistulae with high anal or rectal opening, because it combines the effects of both cutting and loose setons and because the postoperative results regarding continence are satisfactory.

Stump appendicitis is a rare clinical situation when there is incomplete appendectomy. A wide spectrum of diseases in the differential diagnosis of right lower quadrant pain of the abdomen and presence of appendectomy operation in a patient's history delay the diagnosis. We report such a case of perforated stump appendicitis and generalized peritonitis occurring eight months after appendectomy.

Gallstone disease is very common and laparoscopic cholecystectomy is one of the most common surgical procedures all over the world. Parallel to the increase in the number of laparoscopic cholecystectomies, bile duct injuries also increased. The reported incidence of bile duct injuries ranges from 0.3% to 1.4%. Many of the bile duct injuries during laparoscopic cholecystectomy are not due to inexperience, but are the result of basic technical failures and misinterpretations. A working group of expert hepatopancreatobiliary surgeons, an endoscopist, and a specialist of forensic medicine study searched and analyzed the publications on safe cholecystectomy and biliary injuries complicating laparoscopic cholecystectomy under the organization of Turkish Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery Association. After a series of e-mail communications and two conferences, the expert panel developed consensus statements for safe cholecystectomy, management of biliary injuries and medicolegal issues. The panel concluded that iatrogenic biliary injury is an overwhelming complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy and an important issue in malpractice claims. Misidentification of the biliary system is the major cause of biliary injuries. To avoid this, the "critical view of safety" technique should be employed in all the cases. If biliary injury is identified intraoperatively, reconstruction should only be performed by experienced hepatobiliary surgeons. In the postoperative period, any deviation from the expected clinical course of recovery should alert the surgeon about the possibility of biliary injury.

The laparoscopic approach to ventral and incisional hernias is safe, feasible, and a good alternative to the open approach. Our results are comparable with those of other reports in the literature.