New advantageous tool in single incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy: the needle grasper

Introduction: During single-incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy (SILC), the gallbladder is suspended with stitches, resulting in perforation risk and difficulty in exploration. Aim: We used the needle grasper in SILC to hang and manipulate the gallbladder. Material and methods : Sixty-five patients (43 female, 22 male) who underwent SILC between December 2013 and December 2014 were analyzed retrospectively for patient demographics, duration of operation, laparotomy or conventional laparoscopy necessity, drain use, complications, and hospital stay periods. To place the SILC port (Covidien, Inc.), the needle grasper was inserted at the right upper abdominal quadrant without an incision to hang and manipulate the gall-bladder. Results : The mean age was 47.9 ±13.068 years; the mean body mass index (BMI) was 26.94 ±3.913 kg/m2. ASA scores were 1, 2, and 3. Two patients with high BMI with additional trocar use were excluded. The operations were completed without any additional trocar in 59 patients. The mean operation time was 89 ±22.41 min. Eighteen patients required a drain; all were discharged after drain removal. One patient needed re-hospitalization and percutaneous drainage and was discharged on the 9th day. Fifty-three patients were discharged on the 1st post-operative day. Eleven patients with drains were discharged on the 2nd day, and 1 was discharged on the 7th day. The mean hospital stay period was 1.26 ±0.815 days. Conclusions : The main difficulty of SILC is to manipulate hand tools because the triangulation principle of laparoscopy use is not possible in SILC. Inserting a needle grasper into the abdominal cavity at the right subcostal area to manipulate the gallbladder helps and does not leave a visible scar

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors: 16 years’ experience within a university hospital

Aim: the aim was to convey our 16-year experience regarding gastrointestinal stromal tumors within in a high volume university hospital. Factors that may impact on patient survival were evaluated

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors: 16 years' experience within a university hospital

Aim: the aim was to convey our 16-year experience regarding gastrointestinal stromal tumors within in a high volume university hospital. Factors that may impact on patient survival were evaluated

Effect of nerve monitoring on complications of thyroid surgery

OBJECTIVE: The most frequent and critical complications of thyroid surgery are recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy and hypocalcemia. In first years of the 21st century, intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) was introduced as a new technique to avoid the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury. However, the role and the benefits of IONM are still controversial. In this study, we aimed to compare the postoperative complication rates during thyroid surgery with IONM usage (Group 1) and conventional direct visual technique without IONM usage (Group 2)

Laparoscopic Management of a Very Rare Case: Cystic Artery Pseudoaneurysm Secondary to Acute Cholecystitis

Pseudoaneurysm of a cystic artery is a rare entity that commonly occurs secondary to biliary procedures. Most of the cases in literature are consisted of ruptured aneurysms and to our knowledge, except our case, there were only 3 cases with unruptured aneurysms, which incidentally were detected by radiological methods. When cystic artery pseudoaneurysm is present with acute cholecystitis, most of the reports in literature suggested open cholecystectomy with the ligation of the cystic artery as a main treatment option. In this paper we present a case of acute cholecystitis with unruptured cystic artery pseudoaneurysm that incidentally was detected by computed tomography (CT). Cystic artery pseudoaneurysm was handled laparoscopically with simultaneous cholecystectomy. Due to high risk of rupture, surgeons have evaded laparoscopic approach to acute cholecystitis, which accompanied cystic artery pseudoaneurysm. However herein, we proved that laparoscopic management of cystic artery pseudoaneurysm with simultaneous cholecystectomy is feasible and reliable method

Adrenal angiosarcoma

Adrenal angiosarcoma is an uncommon neoplasm that derives from the vascular endothelium; due to its biological behavior, it should be distinguished from other adrenal tumors. We herein report a case of a 57-year-old woman with diagnosis of an adrenal tumor that was suspected to be malignant. The specimen was histopathologically proved to be an angiosarcoma. The patient was suffering from right upper quadrant pain; after laboratory and radiological workup, a non-functioning right adrenal mass, 14 cm in size, was recognized. A right subcostal incision was made, and adrenalectomy was performed successfully with tumor-free surgical margins. Two months after the operation, a positron emission tomography-computed tomography scan was ordered for follow-up. No tumor tissue or any other metastatic foci remained. The patient had been referred to our medical oncology department and underwent retroperitoneal radiotherapy. However, unfortunately, the patient died due to cardiac insufficiency during the follow-up period

Missed thyroid gland after total thyroidectomy

Missed gland is an extremely rare condition. It is a mediastinal thyroid mass found after total thyroidectomy. We report a case of missed gland. The patient underwent total thyroidectomy due to multinodular goiter and thyroid stimulating hormone levels did not increase after surgery. Pathological tests revealed a micropapillary carcinoma. Thyroid ultrasonography and scintigraphy scan revealed mediastinal thyroid mass. The patient underwent redo surgery without sternotomy and there was no morbidity after the second surgical procedure. Most missed thyroid gland cases are due to incomplete removal of plunging thyroid goiter during total thyroidectomy. They also can be attributed to a concomitant, unrecognized mediastinal goiter, which is not connected to the thyroid gland with vessels or a thin fibrous band. It should be noted that absence of signs like mediastinal mass or tracheal deviation in preoperative chest X-ray does not exclude substernal goiter. The presence of a missed thyroid gland should be kept in mind when postoperative thyroid stimulating hormone levels remain unchanged