Minimally invasive surgery. Implications for hospitals,health workers,and patients.

Minimally invasive surgery is one of the great innovations of health care in the 20th century. It promises to revolutionise surgery by allowing many more operations to be performed with minimal hospitalisation. Pressure from patients has caused many techniques to spread rapidly before they have been adequately assessed. This must be resisted, and policy makers must pay more attention to minimally invasive surgery to ensure that good assessments are made. The widespread use of minimally invasive techniques has important implications for hospitals and health workers. As more patients are treated on an outpatient basis, fewer hospital beds will be needed, and traditional operating rooms will have to adapt to a greater turnover of patients. Surgeons will have to acquire new operating skills, possibly requiring formal training and accreditation, and, as different specialties fight for control of new technologies, surgery may eventually be merged with internal medicine so that specialists will deal with organ systems. Postoperative care will have to be carried out in the community rather than in hospitals, and policy makers will need to reorganise their health systems to cope with these developments.     

Advanced techniques in abdominal surgery.

Almost every abdominal organ is now amenable to laparoscopic surgery. Laparoscopic appendicectomy is a routine procedure which also permits identification of other conditions initially confused with an inflamed appendix. However, assessment of appendiceal inflammation is more difficult. Almost all colonic procedures can be performed laparoscopically, at least partly, though resection for colonic cancer is still controversial. For simple patch repair of perforated duodenal ulcers laparoscopy is ideal, and inguinal groin hernia can be repaired satisfactorily with a patch of synthetic mesh. Many upper abdominal procedures, however, still take more time than the open operations. These techniques reduce postoperative pain and the incidence of wound infections and allow a much earlier return to normal activity compared with open surgery. They have also brought new disciplines: surgeons must learn different hand-eye coordination, meticulous haemostasis is needed to maintain picture quality, and delivery of specimens may be problematic. The widespread introduction of laparoscopic techniques has emphasised the need for adequate training (operations that were straight-forward open procedures may require considerable laparoscopic expertise) and has raised questions about trainee surgeons acquiring adequate experience of open procedures.     

Expression of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) in Wistar rat's intervertebral disc after experimentally induced scoliotic deformity

Minimally invasive spine surgery is becoming more common in the treatment of adult lumbar degenerative disorders. Minimally invasive techniques have been utilized for multilevel pathology, including adult lumbar degenerative scoliosis. The next logical step is to apply minimally invasive surgical techniques to the treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). However, there are significant technical challenges of performing minimally invasive surgery on this patient population. For more than two years, we have been utilizing minimally invasive spine surgery techniques in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. We have developed the present technique to allow for utilization of all standard reduction maneuvers through three small midline skin incisions. Our technique allows easy passage of contoured rods, placement of pedicle screws without image guidance, and allows adequate facet osteotomy to enable fusion. There are multiple potential advantages of this technique, including: less blood loss, shorter hospital stay, earlier mobilization, and relatively less pain and need for pain medication. The operative time needed to complete this surgery is longer. We feel that a minimally invasive approach, although technically challenging, is a feasible option in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Although there are multiple perceived benefits, long term data is needed before it can be recommended for routine use.     

Teaching laparoscopic surgery: the need for guidelines.

There is a risk that minimally invasive surgery will fall into disrepute unless adequate steps are taken to reassure the public. Some form of accreditation after a recognised training scheme would go a long way towards allaying these fears. The cost of training surgeons must be addressed. Adequate training will probably pay dividends in reduced litigation. The royal colleges should be responsible for maintaining standards of teaching on recognised courses, setting criteria for accreditation, and supervising a national audit of all laparoscopic procedures.     

A completely detachable aortic clamping instrument for minimally invasive cardiac surgery

A minimally invasive cardiac surgery is becoming more popular and is still undergoing a refinement of surgical techniques and dedicated instrumentarium as well. New specifically designed instruments are quintessence of safe surgery with improving operative outcomes and comfortable operator-oriented working conditions. In this article, we attempt to present our early clinical experience with a new aortic clamping instrument specifically developed for limited single-access minimally invasive valve surgery.     

Automated knot tying for fixation in minimally invasive, robot-assisted cardiac surgery

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is perhaps the most significant worldwide health issue. While open-heart surgery remains the predominant treatment, significant advancements have been made in minimally invasive surgery (MIS) and minimally invasive robot-assisted (MIRA) surgery. MIRA techniques offer many advantages over open-heart procedures and have extended the capabilities of MIS. However, these benefits come at the cost of increased operating times due to time spent tying knots. The additional bypass time limits patient access and is the most significant barrier to the adoption of MIRA techniques. This research seeks to overcome this barrier by designing a device for MIRA cardiac procedures that automates the knotting of sutures. If this task can be automated while ensuring the delivery of high-quality knots, great progress can be made in transforming the field. MIRA cardiac procedures can move from novel procedures performed by a select group of surgeons on a limited pool of patients to a viable alternative available to the majority of patients with CVD. In this research we propose a design for a self-contained device that delivers a locking knot. Results suggest that consistent knots can be delivered at a time savings of 12.5% and 26.4% over manual knots for trained and untrained users of a surgical robot, respectively.     

微创技术：药理动物模型的新选择

传统药理学动物模型存在创伤过大、精确度低等一系列问题,严重制约着药理学的发展。而医学微创技术的进步为解决这一问题提供了新的选择。已有学者利用微创技术成功地建立了局灶脑梗塞、脊髓缺血及损伤、可复梗阻性黄疸模型、急性心肌梗死模型、慢性心力衰竭等系列动物疾病模型,虽然微创药理学作为一个新兴学科还有待完善,但它的发展必将促进药理学研究达到新的高度.本文通过查阅近年来有关微创技术的国内外文献,对微创技术在药理学中的应用和探索等方面进行了探讨。     

Recent developments in pig embryo transfer.

Porcine embryo transfer has been performed for approximately 50 years, and surgical methods have proven to be reliable for collection and transfer of embryos. However, surgical collection and transfer have the disadvantage of being less useful on the farm. Recently, new procedures for both collection and transfer of embryos have been developed to improve usefulness. The surgical procedure has been refined to a minimally invasive procedure, using endoscopy for collection and transfer of embryos. A nonsurgical procedure for embryo collection has also been devised, but is limited to use in sows with surgically shunted (shortened) uterine horns. Nonsurgical embryo transfer procedures have been developed recently and have proven to be successful. The nonsurgical procedures are preferable to surgical procedures from an animal welfare point of view and because these procedures can be performed on farms without the need for special facilities.     

Endoscopic brow lift: a retrospective review of 628 consecutive cases over 5 years

Since its introduction in 1992, endoscopic brow lift has gained tremendous recognition because it has been promoted as a novel technique to correct brow ptosis as well as glabella rhytids in a minimally invasive manner with fewer complications than the classic coronal brow lift method. In this retrospective study, 628 endoscopic brow lift procedures performed over a 5-year period (1997-2001) at Manhattan Eye Ear and Throat Hospital were reviewed. The number of endoscopic brow lift procedures performed at this institution has declined 70 percent. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the causes of this striking trend by soliciting the opinions of 21 New York plastic surgeons on their current brow ptosis management. The response rate was 84 percent (21 of 25 surgeons contacted). Currently, 25 percent of the interviewed plastic surgeons perform endoscopic brow lift regularly, 50 percent of the plastic surgeons perform endoscopic brow lift occasionally, and 25 percent of the participants no longer perform endoscopic brow lift. While most patients (70 percent) were satisfied with their results, only 50 percent of the plastic surgeons were pleased with the long-term results (after more than 2 years of follow-up). Observed postsurgical complications of endoscopic brow lift included alopecia, hairline changes, infected hardware, brow asymmetry requiring surgical revision, prolonged forehead/brow paresthesia, frontal branch nerve paralysis, and scalp dysesthesia. These complications were similar to those resulting from open brow lifts. Seventy-one percent of the surveyed New York plastic surgeons routinely administered botulinum toxin type A (Botox) within 6 months of the endoscopic brow lift procedure. Possible explanations for the decline in the overall number of endoscopic brow lift procedures include the following: (1) the selection criteria for the ideal endoscopic brow lift patients are currently more limited; (2) other techniques equal or surpass endoscopic brow lift in effectiveness and predictability; and (3) endoscopic brow lift is ineffective in the majority of patients. There is no single superior surgical procedure for brow ptosis management available at this time.     

Minimally invasive surgery. Neurosurgery.

The introduction of minimally invasive techniques has greatly improved results for intracranial neurosurgery. Stereotaxy and improved imaging techniques have reduced surgical trauma by allowing surgeons to plan the least damaging route to operative sites and by increasing surgical precision. Stereotaxy has also allowed brain biopsies to be taken from sites such as the brain stem, which were rarely sampled before because free hand biopsy was so dangerous. Brain tumours can now be treated by interstitial radiotherapy--stereotactic insertion of catheters into the lesion for loading of radioactive iodine--or radiosurgery--focusing of intense beams of radiation on lesions without needing surgical incisions. Endoscopic neurosurgery can be used to reach cavities such as the ventricular system or cystic tumours. With interventional neuroradiology fine catheters can be introduced into most vessels in the cranium for embolisation or dilatation. The development of augmentative functional neurosurgery means that movement disorders, epilepsy, and intractable pain can be treated with implanted neurostimulating electrodes. Future developments will probably include frameless stereotaxy, when the rigid attachment of stereotactic apparatus to the patient''s head can be dispensed with, and at least partial automation of procedures such brain biopsy.     

The new era of cardiac surgery: hybrid therapy for cardiovascular disease

Surgical therapy for cardiovascular disease carries excellent long-term outcomes but it is relatively invasive. With the development of new devices and techniques, modern cardiovascular surgery is trending toward less invasive approaches, especially for patients at high risk for traditional open heart surgery. A hybrid strategy combines traditional surgical treatments performed in the operating room with treatments traditionally available only in the catheterization laboratory with the goal of offering patients the best available therapy for any set of cardiovascular diseases. Examples of hybrid procedures include hybrid coronary artery bypass grafting, hybrid valve surgery and percutaneous coronary intervention, hybrid endocardial and epicardial atrial fibrillation procedures, and hybrid coronary artery bypass grafting/carotid artery stenting. This multidisciplinary approach requires strong collaboration between cardiac surgeons, vascular surgeons, and interventional cardiologists to obtain optimal patient outcomes.     

痔治疗的临床进展研究

痔是肛肠外科最常见的疾病之一,其治疗方式多种多样,尚无统一治疗标准。虽然,痔在临床上以保守治疗为主,但是对于II度以上有症状的痔,手术仍是目前最主要的治疗方式。关于有症状痔最佳治疗方式的争论仍在继续,无论是非手术治疗、传统的痔切除术还是痔的微创手术,都处于不断的改进和探索之中。临床医生总希望能够找到一项理想的具有复发率低、安全可靠、可早期恢复正常活动、术后疼痛轻微甚至无痛的手术方式。随着手术方式的改进和医疗技术的进步,痔的治疗效果也取得了很大的进步。本文就痔的非手术治疗、有创手术治疗以及微创手术治疗作一综述,为痔的临床治疗提供一定的理论依据。     

The surgical workforce crisis: rising to the challenge of caring for an aging America

In the past century, both the field of surgery and the population it serves have markedly changed. The number of elderly individuals in the United States is rapidly increasing. However, this increase has not been accompanied by commensurate growth in the surgical workforce. As the demographic characteristics of medical students have become more diverse, medical student interest in surgical training has declined. These trends raise two fundamental questions. (1) Will there be enough surgeons to meet the needs of an aging United States population? (2) Who will these surgeons be?     

Human Resource and Funding Constraints for Essential Surgery in District Hospitals in Africa: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Survey

Background

There is a growing recognition that the provision of surgical services in low-income countries is inadequate to the need. While constrained health budgets and health worker shortages have been blamed for the low rates of surgery, there has been little empirical data on the providers of surgery and cost of surgical services in Africa. This study described the range of providers of surgical care and anesthesia and estimated the resources dedicated to surgery at district hospitals in three African countries.

Methods and Findings

We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional survey of data from eight district hospitals in Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda. There were no specialist surgeons or anesthetists in any of the hospitals. Most of the health workers were nurses (77.5%), followed by mid-level providers (MLPs) not trained to provide surgical care (7.8%), and MLPs trained to perform surgical procedures (3.8%). There were one to six medical doctors per hospital (4.2% of clinical staff). Most major surgical procedures were performed by doctors (54.6%), however over one-third (35.9%) were done by MLPs. Anesthesia was mainly provided by nurses (39.4%). Most of the hospital expenditure was related to staffing. Of the total operating costs, only 7% to 14% was allocated to surgical care, the majority of which was for obstetric surgery. These costs represent a per capita expenditure on surgery ranging from US$0.05 to US$0.14 between the eight hospitals.

Conclusion

African countries have adopted different policies to ensure the provision of surgical care in their respective district hospitals. Overall, the surgical output per capita was very low, reflecting low staffing ratios and limited expenditures for surgery. We found that most surgical and anesthesia services in the three countries in the study were provided by generalist doctors, MLPs, and nurses. Although more information is needed to estimate unmet need for surgery, increasing the funds allocated to surgery, and, in the absence of trained doctors and surgeons, formalizing the training of MLPs appears to be a pragmatic and cost-effective way to make basic surgical services available in underserved areas. Please see later in the article for the Editors'' Summary     

Endoscopic approach for the resection of forehead masses

Over the past several years, surgery aided by the endoscope has come into favor for a number of reasons. Because it is minimally invasive surgery, it has less morbidity, thus, reduced postoperative pain and complications. It results in earlier mobilization and shorter hospitalization, and most importantly, it contributes to an improved cosmetic appearance as a result of a shortened incision line concealed within the hairline in most cases. We have proposed an alternative approach to the surgical resection of forehead masses by means of the endoscope, which has proven to be useful not only for diagnosis but also as a therapeutic tool for the removal of forehead lesions. This report described the clinical experience with the removal of forehead masses in four patients. The cases illustrated the feasibility and ease of resecting a variety of forehead masses with excellent cosmetic results. We hope that more plastic surgeons will use the proposed technique and will continue to explore the safe limits of endoscopic plastic surgery.     

臀肌筋膜挛缩症的外科手术治疗

臀肌筋膜挛缩症(Gluteal Muscle Contracture,GMC)是指由于各种原因引起的臀肌及其筋膜挛缩,导致髋关节功能受限,表现出特殊的症状、体征的临床综合征。GMC多发生于青少年和儿童患者,目前普遍认为一旦确诊GMC,应尽早手术治疗。随着临床技术的发展,GMC的手术方式也在不断创新、不断发展,其大致分为开放式手术和微创手术两大类,两者虽各具优缺点,但针对不同的患者都取得了不错的治疗效果。本文现对GMC的外科手术治疗的进展作一简要综述。     

气管切开术

气管切开术是一项临床常见的手术操作,偶尔也会在院外实施。手术目的为在颈前气管造口以建立人工气道,使得患者可以自由地通过颈部造口通气,免受窒息的威胁。目前,临床上主要应用于需要进行长期机械通气的患者,特别是重症医学科。随技术和设备的更新换代,临床医生和学者对气管切开术进行了各种尝试,希望能尽可能地降低术中术后并发症。手术向着微创化、多样化发展,手术切口越来越小,手术方法由单一的外科气管切开术,进化出多样的经皮气管切开术、快速反应气管切开术等。不同的手术技巧,其手术的适应症、禁忌症及术中术后出现出血、感染、气肿、声门下狭窄等并发症的发生率也不甚相同。本文重点回顾了气管切开术的历史与现状、颈部解剖生理、适应症、禁忌症和临床常见并发症,并提出对应的预防和解决方法,为临床医生进行手术方案的选择及预防和治疗并发症提供合理新思路,除此之外,我们也基于临床经验提供了一些建议。     

Anesthetic Challenges in Robotic-assisted Urologic Surgery

Robotic-assisted surgery has evolved over the past two decades with constantly improving technology, assisting surgeons in multiple subspecialty disciplines. The surgical requirements of lithotomy and steep Trendelenburg positions, along with the creation of a pneumoperitoneum and limited access to the patient, all present anesthetic management challenges in urologic surgery. Patient positioning requirements can cause significant physiologic effects and may result in many complications. Good communication among team members and knowledge of the nuances of robotic surgery have the potential to improve patient outcomes, increase efficiency, and reduce surgical and anesthetic complications.Key words: Robotic surgery, Urologic surgery, Anesthesia complications, Pneumoperitoneum, Peripheral nerve injury, Patient positioningWith recent advancements in surgical procedures, there is a greater emphasis on minimally invasive techniques with the goal of improving patient outcomes and satisfaction while decreasing surgical morbidity and mortality. Robotic-assisted surgery, the latest innovation in the field of minimally invasive surgeries, first came into medical practice in 1999.¹ The basic principle behind this technology is that the robot “teleports” the surgeon to the operating site and enables operation on the patient from an ergonomic console using three-dimensional vision and autonomous control of wristed laparoscopic surgical instruments.^2,3There are numerous advantages to robotic-assisted surgery, such as improved precision and enhanced accuracy of the movements that can potentially improve patient outcomes.^4,5 In particular, the advent of laparoscopic surgery in the late 1980s also highlighted certain limitations, such as loss of typical three-dimensional vision, reduced surgeon coordination, and greatly limited touch.¹ The use of robotic technology overcame many of these new obstacles as technology improved over the years.⁶ The da Vinci® system (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA) mimics a human wrist and includes three distinct pieces: (1) a console; (2) a surgical cart with four arms that represent a surgeon’s left and right arms, an arm to hold and position the endoscope, and a fourth arm to perform other tasks; and (3) an optical three-dimensional tower that provides stereoscopic vision and runs software.¹Since the late 1990s, surgeons have performed a variety of robot-assisted surgical procedures, including cardiac, thoracic, general surgical, gynecologic, and urologic procedures.¹ Since then, robotic-assisted techniques are being increasingly used for various urologic procedures, including prostatectomy, partial and total nephrectomy, and microsurgical procedures.^7–9 Both the number and variety of urologic procedures performed with robotic assistance have increased significantly, with tens of thousands of cases performed per year in the United States alone.This review specifically focuses on anesthetic considerations related to urologic surgery with robotic technology. The surgical requirements of the steep Trendelenburg position, along with creation of a pneumoperitoneum and limited physical access to the patient, present anesthetic management challenges in urologic surgery.     

Precision Incision: Robotic Coronary Revascularization via 3.9-cm Minithoracotomy

ABSTRACT: Coronary artery bypass grafting remains the treatment choice for coronary artery disease; but sternotomy, the most commonly used approach, compromises its benefits with postoperative morbidity, higher complication rates, and prolonged length of hospital stay. Despite this, minimally invasive and robotic-assisted technology has not been adopted or widely embraced because supporting literature on robotic-assisted coronary artery bypass grafting is extremely limited. Since 2005, the cardiothoracic surgical team at our institution has been developing and maturing an effective method using robotic harvesting of the left internal mammary artery (LIMA) and beating heart surgery through a minithoracotomy for coronary revascularization. This surgical technique involves precisely placing the robotic endoscopic port immediately over the left anterior descending (LAD) artery target site. The robotically harvested LIMA is secured to the epicardium at the LAD target, the robotic instruments are removed, and the endoscopic port site is enlarged slightly greater than 1 cm to become the minithoracotomy and allow for LIMA-to-LAD anastomosis. The other two robotic ports are used to complete the procedure without a need for additional incisions. This standardized method has been used in more than 750 patients, and since 2009, the last 377 consecutive non-rib-spreading minithoracotomy incisions measured a median of 3.9 cm (mean [SD], 4.16 [1.2748] cm; range, 2.3-12.0 cm). This "How I Do It" article describes our methods in detail and associated robotic nuances.     

Principles of Rodent Surgery for the New Surgeon

For both scientific and animal welfare reasons, training in basic surgical concepts and techniques should be undertaken before ever seeking to perform surgery on a rodent. Students, post-doctoral scholars, and others interested in performing surgery on rodents as part of a research protocol may not have had formal surgical training as part of their required coursework. Surgery itself is a technical skill, and one that will improve with practice. The principles of aseptic technique, however, often remain unexplained or untaught. For most new surgeons, this vital information is presented in piecemeal fashion or learned on the job, neither of which is ideal. It may also make learning how to perform a particular surgery difficult, as the new surgeon is learning both a surgical technique and the principles of asepsis at the same time. This article summarizes and makes recommendations for basic surgical skills and techniques necessary for successful rodent surgery. This article is designed to supplement hands-on training by the user''s institution.