European journal of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology
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Eur. J. Obstet. Gynecol. Reprod. Biol. · May 2010
Robotic hysterectomy versus conventional laparoscopic hysterectomy: outcome and cost analyses of a matched case-control study.
Robotic surgery, with its technical advances, promises to open a new window to minimally invasive surgery in gynaecology. Feasibility and safety of this surgical innovation have been demonstrated in several studies, and now a critical analysis of these new developments regarding outcome and costs is in place. So far only a few studies compare robotic with conventional laparoscopic surgery in gynaecology. Our objective was to evaluate our initial experience performing total robot-assisted hysterectomy with the da Vinci surgical system and compare peri-operative outcome and costs with total laparoscopic hysterectomy. ⋯ Robot-assited hysterectomy is a feasible and interesting new technique with comparable outcome to total laparoscopic hysterectomy. Operating times of total laparoscopic hysterectomy seem to be achieved quickly especially for experienced laparoscopic surgeons. However, costs of robotic surgery are still higher than for conventional laparoscopy. Randomised clinical trials need to be conducted to further evaluate benefits of this new technology for patients and surgeons and analyse its cost-effectiveness in gynaecology.
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Eur. J. Obstet. Gynecol. Reprod. Biol. · May 2010
Effect of palmitoylethanolamide-polydatin combination on chronic pelvic pain associated with endometriosis: preliminary observations.
Endometriosis is a chronic oestrogen-dependent gynaecological disorder, the most common symptom of which is pain. Inflammation can be considered one of the major causes of pain in endometriosis. In particular, degranulating mast cells have been found in significantly greater quantities in endometriotic lesions than in unaffected tissues. The increase in activated and degranulating mast cells is closely associated with nerve structures in painful endometriotic lesions. These observations indicate that inflammation due to mast cells may contribute to the development of pain and hyperalgesia in endometriosis. Controlling mast-cell activation may therefore relieve the pain associated with endometriotic lesions. ⋯ The palmitoylethanolamide-polydatin combination seems to be very useful in controlling chronic pelvic pain associated with endometriosis. As a result of these findings we have initiated a multi-centre pilot study to verify the effectiveness of this treatment in controlling the chronic pelvic pain associated with endometriosis.