Annals of surgery
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
The TME trial after a median follow-up of 6 years: increased local control but no survival benefit in irradiated patients with resectable rectal carcinoma.
To investigate the efficacy of preoperative short-term radiotherapy in patients with mobile rectal cancer undergoing total mesorectal excision (TME) surgery. ⋯ With increasing follow-up, there is a persisting overall effect of preoperative short-term radiotherapy on local control in patients with clinically resectable rectal cancer. However, there is no effect on overall survival. Since survival is mainly determined by distant metastases, efforts should be directed towards preventing systemic disease.
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To identify the most prevalent patterns of technical errors in surgery, and evaluate commonly recommended interventions in light of these patterns. ⋯ Most technical errors occur in routine operations with experienced surgeons, under conditions of increased patient complexity or systems failure. Commonly recommended interventions, including restricting high-complexity operations to experienced surgeons, additional training for inexperienced surgeons, and stricter supervision of trainees, are likely to address only a minority of technical errors. Surgical safety research should instead focus on improving decision-making and performance in routine operations for complex patients and circumstances.
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To describe the results and complications of in situ preservation (ISP) of kidneys from donors after cardiac death (DCD). ⋯ A minority of initiated ISP procedures led to transplantation, resulting in a high workload compared with donation after brain death. The association between increasing catheter insertion time and inferior graft outcome emphasizes the need for fast and effective surgery. Therefore, rapid laparotomy with direct aortic cannulation is preferred over ISP in controlled DCD donation. Despite these limitations, we have expanded our donor pool 3- to 4-fold by procuring DCD kidneys that were preserved in situ.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Hand-assisted laparoscopic versus open right colectomy: a randomized controlled trial.
Laparoscopic colectomy has been proved to be both technically and oncologically feasible. However, the approach has been criticized for its procedural complexity and long operative time as a result of the loss of tactile feedback and absence of depth perception. The advent of hand-access devices offered a potential solution to these problems. This randomized controlled trial aims to compare hand-assisted laparoscopic colectomy (HALC) with open colectomy (OC) in the management of right-sided colonic cancer. ⋯ HALC retained the same short-term benefits of the pure laparoscopic approach. The technique is associated with a slightly increased but acceptable operative time. Aside as a useful adjunct in complex laparoscopic procedures, the hand-assisted laparoscopic technique is also a useful, if not more effective, alternative for patients with right-sided colonic cancer.