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INTERNATIONAL EDITION
Volume 2 • 2013 GENERALSURGERYNEWS.COM ®
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Single-Port Liver Resection Feasible in Selected Patients
Ultrasound as Gold Standard for Hernia Diagnosis? Group Finds It Better Than CT; But Will It Be Widely Adopted?
Endoscopic Approach Good Option for Early Breast Cancer Negative Margins, Better Cosmesis; Main Drawback Is Longer Procedure Time
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urgeons from Vanderbilt University are recommending that dynamic abdominal sonography for hernia (DASH) replace computed tomography (CT) as the gold standard for the radiographic identification and characterization of incisional hernia. “The DASH examination is an accurate alternative to the CT scan for diagnosing abdominal wall hernias, with additional benefits of no radiation exposure and instant bedside interpretation,” concluded Benjamin K. Poulose, MD, MPH, assistant professor of general surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn., and his colleagues in a report published in the March edition of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (216:447-453). Dr. Poulose, co-author William B. Beck and their colleagues studied 181 patients who underwent surgeon-performed DASH, as well as CT scans of the abdomen and pelvis. Surgeons and radiologists
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procedures on post-meal glucose reactions. Mitchell S. Roslin, MD, FACS, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City, and his colleagues first became interested in glucose tolerance testing after noticing that many of their
new single-port pretumoral approach has shown promise in treating early breast cancer, according to a new study presented at the 21st International Congress of the European Association for Endoscopic Surgery (EAES). This pretumoral transaxillary retromammary (TARM) approach pproach to video-assisted ted breast surgery (VABS) (VAB performed on 20 pat atients was safe and eff ffective. The approoach also came wiith excellent cossmetic outcomees, preserving the he original shape of the breast, said lead author uthor Koji Y Yamashita, MD, PhD, Department of Breast Surgery, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo. He presented the results at the EAES meeting in Vienna, in June. Currently in the United States, the standard of care for breast-conserving surgery includes lumpectomy, partial mastectomy and quadrantectomy, but these methods require a long incision
see GASTRIC BYPASS page 12
see BREAST SURGERY page 16
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urgeons have been performing laparoscopic liver resections since the late 1980s, but the standard approach to managing liver malignancies is still open surgery. “Liver resection has been one of the last areas where we’ve applied
minimally invasive techniques,” said T. Peter Kingham, MD, Department of Surgery, Hepatopancreatobiliary Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City. “It’s a challenge to safely perform the same see LIVER RESECTION page 16
Study Suggests Gastric Bypass Causes Glucose Spikes, Crashes B Y M ONICA S MITH
see ULTRASOUND page 9
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REPORT Clinical Performance and Economic Analysis of GORE® BIO-A® Tissue Reinforcement See insert at page 12
espite its reputation as the gold standard for weight loss, gastric bypass surgery may result in a post-meal glucose spike followed by a blood sugar crash that causes between-meal hunger, according to a new study. The research examined the effects of different bariatric
INSIDE In the News
Clinical Review
Surgeons’ Lounge
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More Overlap Means Fewer Hernia Recurrences, Says Surgeon With More Than 1,200 Casees
Postoperative Pain Management in Anorectal Surgery
Coverage of the International Colorectal Disease Symposium and the Surgery of the Foregut Symposium