Postoperative small intestinal obstruction caused by barbed suture after robot‐assisted laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy

Introduction We present a case of small intestinal obstruction due to a barbed suture used for peritoneal closure during robot‐assisted laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy. Case presentation A female patient with pelvic organ prolapse underwent robot‐assisted laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy uneventfully. Intestinal obstruction developed on postoperative Day 4. Conservative treatment with the ileus tube failed to improve abdominal symptoms. The laparoscopic examination on postoperative Day 14 revealed the barbed suture entangled with the small intestinal mesentery. The tail of the barbed suture was laparoscopically detached from the mesentery without damaging the small intestine. The tail of the barbed suture was trimmed; an antiadhesive material was applied to the peritoneal closure line and the trimmed tail of the barbed suture. Conclusion We recommend the use of conventional absorbable sutures in the peritoneal cavity because of the potential risk of intestinal obstruction caused by the barbed suture

One-Pot Synthesis of Imines from Nitroaromatics and Alcohols by Tandem Photocatalytic and Catalytic Reactions on Degussa (Evonik) P25 Titanium Dioxide

Photoirradiation (λ > 300 nm) of Degussa (Evonik) P25 TiO₂, a mixture of anatase and rutile particles, in alcohols containing nitroaromatics at room temperature produces the corresponding imines with very high yields (80–96%). Other commercially available anatase or rutile TiO₂ particles, however, exhibit very low yields (<30%). The imine formation involves two step reactions on the TiO₂ surface: (i) photocatalytic oxidation of alcohols (aldehyde formation) and reduction of nitrobenzene (aniline formation) and (ii) condensation of the formed aldehyde and aniline on the Lewis acid sites (imine formation). The respective anatase and rutile particles were isolated from P25 TiO₂ by the H₂O₂/NH₃ and HF treatments to clarify the activity of these two step reactions. Photocatalysis experiments revealed that the active sites for photocatalytic reactions on P25 TiO₂ are the rutile particles, promoting efficient reduction of nitrobenzene on the surface defects. In contrast, catalysis experiments showed that the anatase particles isolated from P25 TiO₂ exhibit very high activity for condensation of aldehyde and aniline, because the number of Lewis acid sites on the particles (73 μmol g^–1) is much higher than that of other commercially available anatase or rutile particles (<15 μmol g^–1). The P25 TiO₂ particles therefore successfully promote tandem photocatalytic and catalytic reactions on the respective rutile and anatase particles, thus producing imines with very high yields