The outcomes for gallbladder cancer remain largely dismal to this day. Overall, the low incidence of gallbladder cancer around the world coupled with an even lower number of patients amenable to surgery at the time of presentation, has precluded the generation of evidence-based guidelines for the management of this cancer. However, while the incidence of the cancer may be decreasing in some parts of the world, in other countries such as India, Japan and Chile, gallbladder cancer continues to affect a sizeable population of patients. As such, there is a growing need to define what constitutes an adequate surgery for each stage of this cancer, based on sound evidence. This editorial provides a broad overview of the existing problems in the management of gallbladder cancer and appeals for multi-institutional studies aimed at answering some of the pertinent questions on the surgical management of gallbladder cancer.
Erosion of the "Kugel" mesh into intraperitoneal organs has not been previously reported in the medical literature. We report such an occurrence in a 54-year-old male, 4 years following a "Kugel" preperitoneal repair of a left-sided inguinal hernia. The patient presented with septicaemia, pneumaturia and left iliac fossa pain. His computed tomography (CT) scan indicated the presence of gas in the bladder and a thickened loop of sigmoid colon attached to the region of the dome of the bladder. Colonoscopy showed some scattered diverticula in the sigmoid colon but no tumour. On surgical exploration, the "Kugel" mesh was found to erode the sigmoid colon and the bladder wall, leading to a colovesical fistula. An anterior resection of the rectum with removal of the mesh with closure of the bladder wall defect was performed.
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