The early and long-term outcome following emergency colorectal surgery was significantly lower than that after elective surgery. Although medical complications in patients with end-stage cancer played an important role, surgical failures still had an important impact on outcome.

A modern approach to the surgical treatment of early breast carcinoma requires intraoperative localisation of non-palpable lesions and assessment of the lymph node status. Localisation of breast lesions can be achieved by intratumoural injection of a small amount of radiotracer and intraoperative use of a gamma probe (i.e. radioguided occult lesion localisation, or ROLL). Assessment of the lymph node status is possible by means of the sentinel node approach. To date, two different radiopharmaceuticals have been used for localisation of tumour and sentinel node. We now propose the use of a single nanocolloidal tracer (Nanocoll, with a particle size of less than 80 nm) which is labelled with technetium-99m for simultaneous performance of ROLL and sentinel node identification. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of this approach, which should be easier and more practical than the dual-tracer injection method. We have employed this new technique in 73 patients with non-palpable, cytologically diagnosed breast cancer and non-palpable axillary lymph nodes. In all patients the radiocolloid, in a total volume of 0.3-0.4 cc, was injected under sonographic or stereotactic guidance. Half of the dose was injected intratumourally and half superficially, but very close to the tumour. Because of the slow lymphatic flow in the breast, Nanocoll must be injected some time before surgery in order to enable adequate migration to the axilla. We injected colloid in the afternoon before surgery (16-23 h before the start of the operation, with an average interval of 18 h). An average dose of 130 MBq (range 110-150) was injected in order to have about 10 MBq of radioactivity when surgery commenced. Lymphoscintigraphy was performed after 15-19 h, with an average interval of 17 h. The procedure was always successful in permitting the localisation of occult breast lesions. Lesions were always localised at the first attempt, and were always contained within the surgical margins. Histological examination revealed all 73 resected lesions to be malignant: there were 64 cases of infiltrating carcinoma and nine of intraductal carcinoma. All breast lesions were therefore confirmed to be early breast cancer. We achieved sentinel node localisation in 71 out of 73, either at scintigraphy or with the intraoperative probe; in two patients, radiopharmaceutical migration was absent. Lymphoscintigraphy showed only axillary drainage in 52 cases, only internal mammary chain (IMC) drainage in nine cases, and combined axillary and IMC drainage in eight cases. In two cases, lymphoscintigraphy suggested the sentinel node was located inside the same breast (intramammary lymph node). All the visualised sentinel nodes were biopsied except for four that were localised in the IMC. Histological examination of the nodes showed metastases in 20 cases: in 15 cases there were micrometastases, and in five, macrometastases. In conclusion, this study has demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed procedure. Simultaneous performance of ROLL and sentinel n...

Classification and guidelines of hemorrhoidal disease are based on the subdivision in Grades of prolapse followed by any aspect related to both the treatment and its technique. When taking the proposals for classification and guidelines issued by prolific scientific societies into consideration, it is evident that strong contradictions and interpretative limits emerge in finding the best treatment to be adopted. After a critical examination of these limitations, a methodological proposal is shared to achieve a new classification, which plays a part in forming a new guideline for hemorrhoidal disease, identifying its evolution, dynamism of the prolapse, symptomatology, enteropathogenesis and gender characteristics.

Along the years, scientific clinical data have been collected concerning the possible saphenous flow restoration without any ablation and according with the CHIVA strategy. Moreover, in 2013 a Cochrane review highlighted the smaller recurrence risk following a CHIVA strategy rather than a saphenous stripping. Nevertheless, the saphenous sparing strategy surely remains a not-so-worldwide-spread and accepted therapeutic option, also because considered not so immediate and easy to perform. Aim of this paper is to provide an easily accessible guide to an everyday use of a saphenous sparing strategy for chronic venous disease, highlighting how even apparently too complicated reflux patterns classifications can be fastly and successfully managed and exploited for a hemodynamic correction.

Implementing a colorectal enhanced recovery program is feasible, efficient for functional recovery and hospital stay reduction, safe, and cost-effective. High patient satisfaction and nursing workload reduction may also be expected, but high protocol adherence is necessary.

About the technique of using transabdominal stay sutures for retraction and stabilization during laparoscopic surgery we would like to make clear that many authors, including us, who have employed this technique for specific procedures have not been mentioned [1]. So we would like to express our opinion, as we were the first to present (in 1997) a novel technique for laparoscopic cholecystectomy, called the "One-wound Muppet's show Technique." The aim of this technique was to reduce the number of access ports from four to three to only one, through which two 10-mm ports were inserted. Multiple sutures were placed to suspend the gallbladder and expose Calot's triangle.Nevertheless our immediate enthusiasm for the cosmetic advantages offered by the technique disappeared after the two techniques were compared in a prospective randomized study. We gave up it for following reasons: 9 Patient satisfaction that was not as good as expected 9 Higher incidence of supra-umbilical incisional hernia due to the bigger umbilical incision 9 Increased operating time due to the passage of the sutures on a straight needle through the abdominal wall, the gallbladder wall, and then out through the abdominal wall again 9 The fact that it did not always provide as good an exposure as that afforded by the standard four-port technique, because the sutures fail to fully reproduce some important functions of the conventional grasper: lifting the fundus toward the anterior abdominal wall and underneath the thoracic cage, while simultaneously rotating the liver superiorly 9 No differences in postoperative pain and hospitalization 9 The sparing of two access ports did not lead to a significant cost-effectiveness advantage Thus we do not consider the one-wound technique a substitute for the fourth trocar, but rather an optional technique in case of a strong desire by the patient to have a cosmetic omission of two or three skin incisions.To expand the applicability of the Muppet's Show Technique, it has been used to perform laparoscopic appendectomy. We have been conducting a study to compare it with the usual three-trocar approach. From the preliminary results we can affirm that modifying some aspects of the technique, one-wound appendectomy can be safely performed, but again it does not offer significant advantages. References1. Navarra G, Pozza E, Occhionorelli S, Carcoforo P, Donini I (1997)One-wound laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Br J Surg 84:695

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Mini-invasiveness, ease of use and execution speed represent the reasons for endovenous laser ablation success. Nevertheless, the strategic choice remains the ablation of the saphenous trunk. Hemodynamic correction (CHIVA) represents an option, based on a saphenous-sparing therapeutic strategy. We tested the feasibility of a modified CHIVA strategy by means of endovenous lasers (EL) shrinkage of segmental great saphenous vein (GSV) tracts, in networks characterized by sapheno-femoral incompetence and re-entry perforators focused on the GSV. We report the follow up of the first 2 chronic venous disease [C 1,2,3 sEpAsPr 1,2,3 , venous clinical severity score (VCSS) 8 and 9 respectively] treated cases. At 1-year follow up both patients were C 1,2,3 sEpAsPr 1,2,3 and the VCSS were 1 and 2 respectively. The non-treated GSV tracts maintained their patency. ELs were herein used within a saphenous-sparing therapeutic plan, thanks to an accurate pre-operative hemodynamic assessment, which allowed the shrinkage of only the first saphenous trunk tract only. Proper technical and hemodynamic considerations are discussed.