Project description:Gastrobronchial fistulas are a rare occurrence in the literature. We report a case of a gastrobronchial fistula after robotic repair of a chronic traumatic diaphragmatic hernia. The patient had severe respiratory symptoms with multiple studies that were inconclusive. The fistula was ultimately discovered after an esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD). The patient underwent a left thoracotomy for takedown of his fistula and eventually recovered. Earlier EGD and a lower threshold for differential that included this diagnosis would have led to an earlier identification and treatment of a rare disease process.
Project description:IntroductionIatrogenic diaphragmatic hernia after laparoscopic left adrenalectomy has been rarely reported in adults. Surgery is the preferred treatment because of the risks of incarceration, strangulation and pulmonary complications.Presentation of caseAn elderly woman with parasternal diaphragmatic hernia has been successfully treated by robotic repair with mesh placement. The short-term follow-up showed that there was no recurrence or any symptoms after the intervention.DiscussionIatrogenic diaphragmatic hernia is a rare complication occurring after abdominal or thoracic surgery. The diagnosis could be challenging because of the presence of chronic symptoms. Computed tomography can be considered the gold standard technique to assess the correct diagnosis of diaphragmatic hernias in the majority of cases. Patients with chronic symptomatic hernia should undergo surgical repair of defect. Robotic technology because of its enhanced precision and the endowrist movement of the robotic arms, facilitates the dissection near the esophago-gastric junction and the other important adjacent structures.ConclusionRobotic technology seems to be a valid approach for the repair of diaphragmatic defects, even if this remains a high cost-related procedure.
Project description:Traumatic diaphragmatic hernia (TDH) is an uncommon surgical problem, and diagnosis is often delayed. However, the mortality from bowel necrosis can reach 80%. Therefore, suspicion is needed and surgery is required to prevent complications. A 50-year-old man was transferred due to abdominal pain and vomiting. Chest X-ray and computed tomography (CT) scan showed herniation of the stomach through the left diaphragm. The patient had fallen down 15 months ago and CT scan at that time revealed a small defect of the diaphragm without herniation. We diagnosed delayed herniation of TDH and the patient underwent laparoscopic repair using an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) mesh. Recovery was uneventful and the CT scan at 3 months after the operation showed no recurrence. We reported a delayed presenting TDH and considered a laparoscopic approach to be safe and feasible during elective surgery. Moreover, use of an ePTFE mesh for repair of large diaphragmatic hernia was also feasible.
Project description:BackgroundPublished studies evaluating the effect of robotic assistance on clinical outcomes and costs of care in diaphragmatic hernia repair (DHR) have been limited.Study designThe Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient and State Ambulatory Surgery and Services Databases for Florida were queried to identify patients undergoing transabdominal DHR between 2011 and 2018 and associated inpatient and outpatient encounters within 12 months after the index operation. Patients undergoing robotic DHR were 1:1:1 propensity score-matched for age, sex, race, Elixhauser comorbidity score, case priority, payer, and facility volume with patients undergoing open and laparoscopic DHR.ResultsThere were 5,962 patients (67.3%) who underwent laparoscopic DHR, 1,520 (17.2%) who underwent open DHR, and 1,376 (15.5%) who underwent robotic DHR. On comparison of matched cohorts, median index length of stay (3 days; interquartile range [IQR] 2 to 5 days vs 2 days; IQR 1 to 4 days; p < 0.001) and index hospitalization costs ($17,236; IQR $13,231 to $22,183 vs $12,087; IQR $8,881 to $17,439; p < 0.001) for robotic DHR were greater than for laparoscopic DHR. Median length of stay for open DHR (6 days; IQR 4 to 10 days) was longer than that for both laparoscopic and robotic DHR. Median index hospitalization costs for open DHR ($16,470; IQR $11,152 to $23,768) were greater than those for laparoscopic DHR, but less than those for robotic DHR. There were no significant differences between cohorts in the overall rate of post-index care.ConclusionsLaparoscopic DHR is the most cost-effective approach to DHR. Robotic assistance provides clinical outcomes comparable with laparoscopic DHR, but is associated with increased index cost.
Project description:Bochdalek hernias are diaphragmatic defects seen in pediatrics. About 5-25% of the cases are diagnosed in adulthood, and present with symptoms of chest and abdominal problems. This is a case of an 18-year-old male who presented to the emergency department with epigastric pain, vomiting and dyspnea. Most of the left-sided organs had herniated to the left chest cavity. Immediate surgery was performed. The stomach, spleen and colon were reduced into the abdominal cavity. The diaphragm defect was repaired laparoscopically, but there were limitations due to inadequate space, leading to difficult visualization of the posterior diaphragmatic leaflet. A thoracoscopic approach was taken where we saw the left kidney herniated through the repair site posteriorly. It was reduced and the defect was closed. The early diagnosis of Bochdalek hernias is important to prevent stomach/intestinal strangulation. Laparoscopic surgeons need to be prepared for a thoracic approach in giant congenital diaphragmatic hernias.
Project description:Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) is defined by the presence of an orifice in the diaphragm, more often left and posterolateral that permits the herniation of abdominal contents into the thorax. The lungs are hypoplastic and have abnormal vessels that cause respiratory insufficiency and persistent pulmonary hypertension with high mortality. About one third of cases have cardiovascular malformations and lesser proportions have skeletal, neural, genitourinary, gastrointestinal or other defects. CDH can be a component of Pallister-Killian, Fryns, Ghersoni-Baruch, WAGR, Denys-Drash, Brachman-De Lange, Donnai-Barrow or Wolf-Hirschhorn syndromes. Some chromosomal anomalies involve CDH as well. The incidence is < 5 in 10,000 live-births. The etiology is unknown although clinical, genetic and experimental evidence points to disturbances in the retinoid-signaling pathway during organogenesis. Antenatal diagnosis is often made and this allows prenatal management (open correction of the hernia in the past and reversible fetoscopic tracheal obstruction nowadays) that may be indicated in cases with severe lung hypoplasia and grim prognosis. Treatment after birth requires all the refinements of critical care including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation prior to surgical correction. The best hospital series report 80% survival but it remains around 50% in population-based studies. Chronic respiratory tract disease, neurodevelopmental problems, neurosensorial hearing loss and gastroesophageal reflux are common problems in survivors. Much more research on several aspects of this severe condition is warranted.
Project description:The treatment of inguinal hernias with open and minimally invasive procedures has reached a high standard in terms of outcome over the past 30 years. However, there is still need for further improvement, mainly in terms of reduction of postoperative seroma, chronic pain, and recurrence. This video article presents the endoscopic anatomy of the groin with regard to robotic transabdominal preperitoneal patch plasty (r‑TAPP) and illustrates the surgical steps of r‑TAPP with respective video sequences. The results of a cohort study of 302 consecutive hernias operated by r‑TAPP are presented and discussed in light of the added value of the robotic technique, including advantages for surgical training. r‑TAPP is the natural evolution of conventional TAPP and has the potential to become a new standard as equipment availability increases and material costs decrease. Future studies will also have to refine the multifaceted added value of r‑TAPP with new parameters.
Project description:The principle of targeted separation or weakening of individual components of the abdominal wall to relieve tension in the median line during major abdominal reconstruction has been known for over 30 years as anterior component separation (aKS) and is an established procedure. In search of alternatives with lower complication rates, posterior component separation (pKS) was developed; transversus abdominis release (TAR) is a nerve-sparing modification of pKS. With the ergonomic resources of robotics (e.g., angled instruments), TAR can be performed in a minimally invasive manner (r-TAR): hernia gaps of up to 14 cm can be closed and a large extraperitoneal mesh implanted. In this video article, the treatment of large incisional hernias using the r‑TAR technique is presented. Exemplary results of a cohort study in 13 consecutive patients are presented. The procedure is challenging, but our own results-as well as reports from the literature-are encouraging. The r‑TAR is becoming the pinnacle procedure for abdominal wall reconstruction.
Project description:Background Closure of the posterolateral defect in some cases of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) can be difficult. Percutaneous transcostal suturing is often helpful to create a complete, watertight closure of the diaphragm. A challenge with the technique is passing the needle out the same tract that it entered so that no skin is caught when the knots are laid down into the subcutaneous tissue. This report describes a novel technique using a Tuohy needle to percutaneously suture the posterolateral defect during thoracoscopic repair of CDH. Case We report a case of a 6-week-old infant who presented with a CDH and ipsilateral intrathoracic kidney that was repaired using thoracoscopic approach. The posterolateral part of the defect was repaired by percutaneous transcostal suturing and extracorporeal knot tying. To assure correct placement of the sutures and knots, a Tuohy needle was used to guide the suture around the rib and out through the same subcutaneous tract. The total operative time was 145 minutes and there were no perioperative complications. The patient was followed up for 3 months, during which there was no recurrence. Conclusion Our percutaneous Tuohy technique for closure of the posterolateral part of CDH enables a secure, rapid, and tensionless repair.
Project description:Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a life-threatening malformation characterised by failure of diaphragmatic development with lung hypoplasia and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN). The incidence is 1:2000 corresponding to 8% of all major congenital malformations. Morbidity and mortality in affected newborns are very high and at present, there is no precise prenatal or early postnatal prognostication parameter to predict clinical outcome in CDH patients. Most cases occur sporadically, however, genetic causes have long been discussed to explain a proportion of cases. These range from aneuploidy to complex chromosomal aberrations and specific mutations often causing a complex phenotype exhibiting multiple malformations along with CDH. This review summarises the genetic variations which have been observed in syndromic and isolated cases of congenital diaphragmatic hernia.