Corps étranger intragastrique. Une complication rare de la mise en place de sonde gastrique

The use of an uncuffed endotracheal tube for the placement of nasogastric tubes during surgery is not a procedure free of any risk. We report a rare case of gastric foreign body secondary to this procedure. A 67-year-old patient who had underwent a coronary bypass for a three vessels disease two years before complained of postprandial epigastralgia lasting for a few months. The investigations reported a gastric ulcer associated with a tubular gastric foreign body. The endoscopic extraction found an endotracheal tube. It is a common habit in our institution to use this method when placing this tube through a nostril in order to ease the nasogastric tube insertion when it is difficult. (c) 2006 Publie par Elsevier SAS

Désaturation peropératoire lors d'une laparoscopie-hystéroscopie gynécologique: une étiologie méconnue, l'épanchement pleural

[Peroperative desaturation during gynaecological laparoscopy-hysteroscopy : an unknown aetiology, pleural extravasation] A 41-year-old patient presented several episodes of desaturation during a gynaecological laparoscopy. The major complication of this procedure is the venous air embolism. Several other side-effects have been reported: heart rate disorders, subcutaneous emphysema or pneumothorax. Pleural effusions during gynaecologic laparoscopy are apparently rare and the volume of effusion must be important to induce clinical symptoms. This fact can probably explain the frequent difficulty of diagnosis. The role of the diaphragmatic lymphatic network and other physiologic aspects are discussed in this article

Adult liver transplantation at UCL: update 2002.

The authors present the results of a single centre study of 587 liver transplants performed in 522 adults during the period 1984-2002. Results have improved significantly over time due to better pre-, peri- and post-transplant care. One, five, ten and fifteen year actuarial survivals for the whole patient group are 81.2; 69.8; 58.9 and 51.2%. The high incidence of de novo tumors (12.3%), of cardiovascular diseases (7.5%) and of end-stage renal function (3.6%) should be further incentives to tailor the immunosuppression to the individual patient and to direct the attention of the transplant physician to the long-term quality of life of the liver recipient