BACKGROUND This study illustrates our experience in treating duodenal ulcer by means of thoracoscopy and laparoscopy over a period of six years. MATERIALS AND METHODS From October 1991 to October 1998, we submitted 38 patients (31 males and 7 females), average age 51 years (range 22-78 years), with duodenal ulcer to vagotomy with minimally invasive access: 23 Hill-Barkers, 2 Taylors, 9 thorac...

Permanent relief of symptomatic achalasia most often occurs after longitudinal esophagomyotomy. A serious drawback of this treatment has been the need for a thoracotomy or laparotomy. We report a case of esophagomyotomy using a minimally invasive thoracoscopic technique in a 3-year-old child who presented with a 6-month history of regurgitation and recurrent upper respiratory tract infections. ...

Open esophagectomy (OE) requires extensive surgery and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Furthermore, the long-term results of esophageal cancer surgery are not satisfactory; hence, the best surgical approach is constantly under debate. During the last twenty years, minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) employing laparoscopy and/or thoracoscopy has been introduced in a gr...

Esophageal reconstruction is one of the most complex types of gastrointestinal surgery, principally when it is performed using minimally invasive techniques. The procedure is associated with various complications, such as anastomotic dehiscence, chylothorax, esophageal necrosis and fistulae. We report the case of a patient diagnosed with epidermoid carcinoma in the distal third of the esophagus...

The staging of lung cancer defines the extent of disease. Accurate staging is important to define operability, select treatment regimens, and predict survival. Nonsurgical and surgical techniques are used to stage patients. The most important nonsurgical techniques used currently are the chest x-ray and computed tomographic (CT) scan of the chest and upper abdomen. In the future, positron emiss...

BACKGROUND Since the first description of the Nuss repair for pectus excavatum, many technical variations have been described. Over the past 10 years, we have used a subxiphoid incision to allow finger guidance to protect the mediastinum which obviates the need for thoracoscopy. METHODS A retrospective review was conducted on all our patients who have undergone pectus excavatum repair from De...

Surgery to treat cancer is one of the most common procedures performed in small animal practice. Clinicians should identify potential intraoperative risk factors, such as blood loss and hypotension, and be prepared to address these complications. Of the surgical doses that can be used to resect tumors, wide resections are preferred, although marginal resection is acceptable if the tumor is sens...

Thoracoscopy, a minimally invasive technique, for congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) repair has been shown to offer significant advantages versus open procedures. However, positive pressure ventilation during thoracoscopy can be challenging. Minimizing lung movement is important to improve surgical visualization, but one-lung ventilation can be difficult in neonates and infants. Ventilation-...

A 47-year-old woman presented to our hospital with complaints of dysphagia. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy identified a submucosal tumor in the left wall of the esophagus that was diagnosed as a benign schwannoma on biopsy. Computed tomography revealed a tumor of length 60 mm in the thoracic esophagus, with its cranial edge at the level of the aortic arch. On endoscopy, a submucosal tunnel was crea...