Ten-year audit of Lichtenstein hernioplasty under local anaesthesia performed by surgical residents

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To analyse in a prospective trial the long-term results of Lichtenstein hernioplasty performed by surgical trainees.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Training of tension-free Lichtenstein hernia operation was started in our ambulatory unit as an outpatient procedure under local anaesthesia in 1996. After performing 36 teaching operations together with residents and their supervising specialist, 281 patients were operated during 1996-2000 either by one senior consultant (n = 141) or by 12 surgical trainees (n = 140). After 10 years, 247 (88%) patients were available for the long-term assessment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After one month postoperatively, the rate of wound infections (consultant 1.1%, residents 0.7%) and hematomas (consultant 1.1%, residents 3.0%) were low and not related to surgeon's training level (ns). Only 6 (2.1%) clinically evident recurrences were found after 10 years: two after specialist repair and four after trainee repair (ns). Although one third of the patients reported some discomfort after 3 and 10 years, 93-95% of the patients were very satisfied with the operation, with no statistical difference between the surgeons.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Ambulatory open mesh repair under local anaesthesia was a safe operation and the long-term results were acceptable among the patients operated by surgical trainees.</p

PION PRODUCTION BY PIONS IN THE O-16 (PI+, PI+ PI-) REACTION AT T (PI+) = 280-MEV

The results of an experiment of pion-induced pion production on 16O at a laboratory energy of 280 MeV are reported. The four-fold-differential cross section, +d\u3a9\u3c0+dE\u3c0+dE\u3c0, was measured, and the missing mass, Mx, for the reaction 16Ofs(\u3c0+,\u3c0+\u3c0 12) at laboratory angles of 50\ub0, 80\ub0 and 115\ub0 for the \u3c0 12, and from 22\ub0 to 128\ub0 for the \u3c0+ was deduced. The angular and energy distributions of the many-fold differential cross sections are compared with an A(\u3c0+,\u3c0+\u3c0 12) model for the reaction. The observed cross sections are reproduced in magnitude and shape when the theoretical calculations consider a proper pion dispersion relation, gw(q), inside the nuclear medium. The total cross section, deduced by integrating the four-fold differential cross sections, is compared with the available theoretical predictions for the 16O(\u3c0+, \u3c0+\u3c0 12) reaction