Hemorrhoids:From basic pathophysiology to clinical management

This review discusses the pathophysiology,epidemiology,risk factors,classification,clinical evaluation,and current non-operative and operative treatment of hemorrhoids.Hemorrhoids are defined as the symptomatic enlargement and distal displacement of the normal anal cushions.The most common symptom of hemorrhoids is rectal bleeding associated with bowel movement.The abnormal dilatation and distortion of the vascular channel,together with destructive changes in the supporting connective tissue within the anal cushion,is a paramount finding of hemorrhoids.It appears that the dysregulation of the vascular tone and vascular hyperplasia might play an important role in hemorrhoidal development,and could be a potential target for medical treatment.In most instances,hemorrhoids are treated conservatively,using many methods such as lifestyle modification,fiber supplement,suppositorydelivered anti-inflammatory drugs,and administration of venotonic drugs.Non-operative approaches include sclerotherapy and,preferably,rubber band ligation.An operation is indicated when non-operative approaches have failed or complications have occurred.Several surgical approaches for treating hemorrhoids have been introduced including hemorrhoidectomy and stapled hemorrhoidopexy,but postoperative pain is invariable.Some of the surgical treatments potentially cause appreciable morbidity such as anal stricture and incontinence.The applications and outcomes of each treatment are thoroughly discussed.

Breast-conserving surgery and combined therapy for women breast cancer: a report of 216 cases

Objective： To explore the therapeutic effect and associated techniques of breast-conserving therapy on patients with clinical stage Ⅰ and stage Ⅱ breast cancer. Methods： 216 female patients with breast cancer underwent breast-conserving therapy from December 1993 to October 2004. Their data were analyzed retrospectively. The breast-conserving therapy consisted of lumpectomy or quadrant removal of the breast, postoperative radiotherapy, chemotherapy and endocrine therapy. Of them, 209 patients underwent axillary lymph node dissection. Results： There were no operative complications. 216 patients were followed-up 3 to 147 months, the medial follow-up time was 78 months. The local recurrence rate was 1.85%. Two patients died and one of them was not related with breast cancer. Presence or absence of fibrosis, shape of breast, asymmetry, pigmentation and handle were taken into consideration for cosmetic evaluation by the patients and experienced breast surgeon. Breasts were scored cosmetically as excellent and good in 199 patients, the rate of satisfactory was 92.13%. Conclusion： Breast-conserving therapy for early breast cancer is e safe end effective therapy. It has less trauma end less complications and can also raise the quality of life in the patients. But we must obey the strict indications and reasonable techniques.

Use of video-assisted thoracoscope in 121 cases of cardiac surgery

Objective: To sum up 121 cases of heart disease operations with the help of thoracoscope from May to August in 2000. Among these cases, 48 cases were atrial septal defect (ASD); the average age of patients is 20±10 years old; average weight is (43±16) kg. 67 patients with ventricular septal defects (VSD), average age13±9 years old; one male patient, 44 years old with Ebstein malformation; one female patient (21 years old) partial atrioventricular canal combined with cor triatriatum; one male (21 years old) with ruptared aneuryem of aortic sinus. 3 cases(all females ) with mitral stenosis combined with mitral valve incompetence. One male patient(aged 16)with pericardiun effusion after trauma. Methods: During operations, a patient with supine position, and his/her right shoulder was padded 30°higher. Tracheal cannula was inserted and air was piped in with high frequency jet ventilation. Three mini thoracotomies with a diameter of 2 to 3 cm were made in the 4th intercostals space of the right par sternum and the 4th and 7th intercostals spaces of the right middle axillary line respectively. An periphera extra corporeal circulation was made. the aortic clamp was clamped, cannula for cold perfusion. After the heart was sliced and a reformative operation was performed. The process of the operation of defects repairs was finished under the thoracoscope. The other operations were performed with the help of thoracoscope. 3 rheumatic heart disease patients got 25# mechanical mitral valve prosthesis. A 30# tricuspid plasty ring was applied to The Ebstein malformation patient. Results: all 121 patients were successfully operated on without death. Two VSD cases appeared transient third degree atrialventricular block.Because 4 cases had more chest drainage, so they were stanched bleeding twice. After the operation, heart murmur vanished, and ultrasonic inspection showed no diffluence inside the heart. Conclusion: Our experience showed that all atrium, ventricular septal defects can be repaired under the thoracoscope. This scope-assisted technology is more accepted by patients because of tiny incisions and also provides an alternative solution for cardiac surgeons.

Pancreatic cancer–Palliative therapy: surgery (bypass/resection)

Objective: We compare the outcome of palliative pancreaticoduodenectomy and palliative surgical bypass in patients with advanced pancreatic carcinoma in our hospital. Recent published related articles are also reviewed. Methods: A respective analysis was performed comparing the perioperative parameters and outcome of 20 patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy with a gross suspected cancer residue and 30 patients who underwent a surgical bypass, all of the patients were diagnosed as in advanced stages intra-operatively. Results: The two groups were comparable with patient characteristics, including age, gender, initial symptoms and concomitant major organ diseases. Tumors are similar in size and intra-operatively diagnosed as in advanced stages in both groups. All of the patients in the resection group were microscopically proved having cancer residue. One postoperative mortality occurred in the resection group (5%), zero in the bypass group (P > 0.05). Overall complications were significantly higher in the resection group (30% vs. 0, P < 0.01), including 2 patients developed Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), zero in the bypass group (P < 0.01); hemorrhage and transfusions in the resection group were much more than that in the bypass group (P < 0.05). Hospital stay after resection was significantly longer than bypass (20 vs. 12 days, P < 0.01). Hospital fee after resection was 4 times more than after bypass (median 61.500 vs. 15. 300 yuan, P < 0.01). Survival was significantly longer after resection (median 12.2 vs. 7.1 months, P < 0.01). Conclusion: Our results show that palliative resection in advanced pancreatic carcinoma lengthens the survival time of the patients, but this is paid for significantly higher complications than bypass.

ANALYSIS OF 312 CASES OF REPEAT CORONARY ARTERY BYPASS GRAFTING

Objective To evaluate repeat coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in 312 patients. Methods The data of 312 patients (average age 65±9 years) who had CABG operation in Hartford hospital were collected and analyzed. The mean duration follow up after the first CABG was 11.8±4.5 years. A total of 1069 bypass grafts were performed. Among them, 386 were arterial grafts such as internal mammary artery, radial artery and gastroepiploic artery; 682 were venous grafts and 1 Gore-Tex graft. Results The operative mortality was 4.5%. Fifteen patients ( 4.8%) had peri-operative myocardial infarction and 46 patients (15%) had low cardiac output syndrome. Intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) was used in 131 patients before, during and after operation. One hundred and nineteen patients weaned off IABP and recovered. Conclusion Although the difficulties and risk factors were increased, the results of redo CABG were still good.

Application of minimally invasive surgery in traumatic brain injury

This article aims to expound the essence of minimally invasive surgery as well as when and how to use it in craniocerebral trauma surgery according to the characteristics of the disease. In neurosurgery, the importance of tissue protection should be from the inside to the outside, i.e. brain→dura→skull→scalp. In this article, I want to share my opinion and our team＇s experience in terms of selecting surgical approaches and incision, surgical treatment of the skull, dura handling, intracranial operation and placement of drainage based on the above theory. I hope this will be helpful for trauma surgeons.

Cephalomedullary fixation for femoral neck/intertrochanteric and ipsilateral shaft fractures： surgical tips and pitfalls

Objective： Surgical management options for femoral shaft fracture and ipsilateral proximal fe- mur fracture vary from single-implant to double-implant fixation. Cephalomedullary fixation in such fractures has rela- tive advantages over other techniques especially because of less soft tissue dissection and immediate postoperative weight beating with accelerated rehabilitation. However, the surgery is technically demanding and there is a paucity of literature describing the surgical techniques for this fixation. The aim of the study was to describe the surgical technique of cephalomedullary fixation for femoral shaft fracture and ipsilateral proximal femur fracture. Methods： Sixteen cases （10 males and 6 females with a mean age of 41.8 years） of ipsilateral proximal femur and shaft fractures were treated by single-stage cephalomedullary fixation at tertiary level trauma center in northern India. The fractures were classified according to AO classification. An intraoperative record of duration of surgery as well as technical challenges unique to each fracture pattern was kept for all the patients. Results： The most common proximal femoral pattern was AO B2.1 observed in 9 of our patients. The AO B2.3 fractures were seen in 4 patients while the AO A1.2 fractures in 3 patients. Four of the AO B2.1 and 2 of the AO B2.3 frac- tures required open reduction with Watson-Jones approach. The mean operative time was around 78 minutes, which tended to decrease as the surgical experience increased. There was only one case of malreduction, which required revision surgery. Conclusion： Combination of ipsilateral femoral shaft fracture and neck/intertrochanteric fracture is a difficult frac- ture pattern for trauma surgeons. Cephalomedullary nail is an excellent implant for such fractures but it requires careful insertion to avoid complications. Surgery is technically demanding with a definite learning curve. Nevertheless, a majority of these fractures can be surgically managed by single- implant cephalomedullary fixation by following basic surgical principles that have been summarized in this article.