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Abbreviated laparotomy and planned reoperation(s) is a new concept in severely injured patients with multivisceral failure by hemorrhagic shock, coagulopathy and hypothermia. The aim of an abbreviated laparotomy is to control hemorrhage, prevent digestive contamination and close the abdominal wall without tension. After a delay for reanimation during 24 to 96 hours, discovery of unknown lesions and anatomic reconstruction will be possible through planned reoperation in better conditions. Emergency reoperation for hemorrhage and abdominal hyperpression severely worsens prognosis.

Postoperative adhesions are the first cause of small bowel occlusion in developed countries. Nevertheless no progress was done in prevention and treatment of this disease. The aim of this trial is to report results of 276 small bowel occlusions caused by adhesion recently operated and consecutive between first january 1993 and 31 december 1996. These patients had 400 previous surgical procedures, within 67.4% infra mesocolic or pelvic. 15.1% of previous surgical procedures took place less than one year before and 36% less than 5 years. Thirty five per cent of patients were operated during 24 hours following admission 23.2% of patients had a digestive resection, caused by necrosis or iatrogenic dissection. Operative mortality was 4.3% without resection and 16.6% with resection. Progress are warranted to reduce the rate of redux of occlusion and mortality and morbidity in this benign disease: more peri operative attention and place of laparoscopy should be considered.

The recurrences of inguinal hernia after onlay mesh may cause technical difficulties for a new repair. The aim of our study was to assess intraoperative findings, feasibility and results of laparoscopic transpreperitoneal mesh onlay in this indication. Twenty-one repairs were performed. In all cases, direct, internal, inguinal recurrences were observed, associated in two cases with an external or femoral recurrence. In 16 cases, there were no adhesions in the peritoneal cavity. The were no conversions and peritonealisation was always completed. The mean length of hospitalization was 2.7 days. Our study suggests that technical errors during the first procedure, insufficient mesh or wrongly positioned are responsible for recurrence and allow reinsertion of a mesh laparoscopy via transpreperitoneal in this indication.

In order to assess the influence of severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on the pulmonary morbidity and mortality following transhiatal oesophagectomy, the authors reviewed 136 consecutive patients who underwent oesophageal cancer resection by a transhiatal approach. Nineteen patients had a forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV) lower than 60% of the theoretical value, indicating severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The other group of 117 patients had a FEV higher than 60% of the theoretical value. Pulmonary complications occurred in 36 patients: 23 (64%) were minor and 13 (36%) were major. Severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease did not significantly increase pulmonary morbidity. However, pulmonary complications occurring in this group of patients appeared more severe with a significant increase in major pulmonary complications (21% versus 8%, p = 0.05) and respiratory mortality rates (10% versus 1.6%, p = 0.04). One factor was significantly correlated to respiratory mortality: age higher than 75 years (p = 0.006). Severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease does not constitute a contraindication for transhiatal oesophagectomy. However, this approach should be reserved for patients under 75 years of age, in order to obtain respiratory morbidity and mortality rates comparable to those of patients with normal spirometry.

The laparoscopic approach to inguinal hernia repair remains controversial. The authors report the results of 790 repairs performed during the first four years of their experience. The complication rate requiring surgical revision was 1.39%. None of these complications was related to the transpreperitoneal approach and all but one of them occurred during the first two years of the authors' experience. The recurrence rate for patients with a follow-up of more than two years was 5.01%. With experience, the size of the meshes has gradually increased. The authors' experience suggests that all types of hernia can be treated via this approach and that the recurrence rate makes this technique competitive compared to the results of other techniques reported in the literature.

Surgical gloves constitute part of the most exposed barrier material, as one half of accidental exposures to blood in the exposures to blood in the operating room involve the hands. Approximately 15% of gloves tested at the end of the operation were found to be perforated. Double gloving lowers this rate to 5% with apparently acceptable tolerance for surgeons. Although surgical glove are initially impermeable to various viruses, the porosity increases with the duration of use. This porosity is related to hydratation and deformation of latex fibres. The maintenance of a good barrier function of surgical gloves requires regular changing, at least hourly, in the current state of knowledge.

Mesch insertion is a reliable means for repairing inguinal hernias. Results in 162 patients treated laparoscopically via an intraperitoneal approach are reviewed herein. Analgesics were not required after the first postoperative day in 71% of patients. Fourteen patients were treated on a day-care basis. There were two recurrences due to inadequate fixation of the mesch to Cooper's ligament. The two patients who developed an infection did not require removal of the patch and had a strong, completely healed wall at the follow-up evaluation after four and ten months, respectively. The number of patients and duration of follow-up are still inadequate. However, these preliminary data warrant continued use and evaluation of this technique.

Leiomyomas are the common est benign tumors of the esophagus and most of them are located in the lower third. Dysphagia and vague pain are the most frequent symptoms. However, 50% of the patients remain asymptomatic and the tumor is often discovered incidentally. Operative management by transthoracic enucleation is the procedure of choice but for asymptomatic forms, this remains controversial. In addition, gastro-esophageal reflux frequently coexists with an esophageal leiomyoma and the therapeutic indications are not well defined for such situations. We report 3 cases of esophageal leiomyoma situated in the lower third, with emphasis on the operative management by transhiatal enucleation, particularly in case of coexisting gastro-esophageal reflux. This procedure avoids thoracotomy and the surgical treatment of the associated gastro-esophageal reflux is much easier by this approach than with thoracotomy.

After appendectomy, mechanical obstruction of the small intestine is often due to local bands. This type of obstruction is classically treated by median laparotomy. We present ten cases of such obstruction treated via the initial gridiron incision, whose advantages are discussed.

A case of congenital esophageal stenosis due to tracheobronchial remnants is reported. This is a very rare condition. Only 46 previous cases have been reported in the French and English literature. The cause is thought to be esophageal sequestration of a tracheobronchial anlage before embryologic separation. Esophageal atresia is frequently associated with this rare abnormality. Symptoms generally appear early in infancy, but are sometimes very discrete and diagnosis can be made later in infancy of exceptionally in adulthood. When there is no evidence of gastric reflux and caustic ingestion, symptoms of esophageal obstruction with date back to infancy or childhood are often the only sign suggestive of congenital stenosis. However, the diagnosis can only be established by microscopic examination of the entire esophageal wall, as endoscopic biopsy will not show the heterotopic tissue lying deep under the normal mucosa. The presence of tracheobronchial remnants in the esophageal wall explains why treatment by dilatation is unsatisfactory or impossible. Definitive treatment involves excision of the stenotic segment.

From May 1st 1983 to March 1st 1991, 126 laparotomies were performed on 104 patients infected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We report the operative indications, macroscopic findings, anatomopathologic and microbiological results, and hospital mortality in this population. In 12.5% of cases, infection by HIV was established after operation. Sixty-eight percent of patients presented criteria for AIDS. The population was divided into 4 groups of indications: Group I: 30 patients had an emergency exploratory laparotomy. Laparotomy provided a diagnosis in 80% of cases, with a hospital mortality in 66%. Group II: 45 patients had an emergency laparotomy with a preoperative diagnosis. Hospital mortality was 24.4%. Group III: 29 patients had a non-urgent laparotomy with no mortality. Group IV: 14 patients were reoperated (22 laparotomies). For the entire population, hospital mortality was 9.3% for seropositive patients and 38.8% for AIDS patients.

In sigmoid volvulus, most authors recommend an emergency detorsion with transrectal intubation and delayed resection. In 25% of cases, detorsion in unsuccessful, necessitating multi-stage laparotomy. However, this approach can be harmful in these patients who are often elderly or with multiple diseases. When detorsion is impossible, we now use a one-stage resection with staplers. Using a median laparotomy, detorsion is performed and viability of the colon is confirmed; a Faucher tube placed freely in the rectum, is pushed by the nurse into the dilated colon; the colon is then deflated by applying gentle suction. After removing the tube, we perform a side-to-side anastomosis at the lower ends of both limbs with mechanical staplers, after economic resection of the mesosigmoid. We have used this procedure in five patients with a median age of 82 years; the mean operating time was 92 minutes. There was no mortality, no fistulae, or stenosis with a median follow-up of 16 months. The patients stayed in hospital for 12 to 18 days. In volvulus cases which cannot be reduced immediately, this procedure obviates multi-stage operations, often the cause of mortality, morbidity or loss of autonomy in patients who are often elderly or with multiple disease.

Although the tolerance of indwelling catheters in AIDS patients has been evaluated, the complications of implanted devices in this population are unknown. This encouraged us to compare in a prospective unicenter trial, dealing with 80 consecutive implanted devices, the complications of this kind of system in 20 AIDS patients, versus a control population. The follow-up was 10,658 days. No patient was excluded or lost to follow-up. In the control population, the infection rate was 5% (0.036 per 100 catheter days). We observed 3 thromboses (5%). In the AIDS group, the infection rate was 25% (0.21 per 100 catheter days). We observed 1 thrombosis (5%). This trial shows that implanted devices are more frequently infected in AIDS patients (p less than 0.05) than in a control population; it suggests that the infection rate in AIDS patients is not superior to the indwelling catheter rate, as reported in the literature. The precision of bacteriological tests and use of antibiotic therapy adapted to the clinical context should help to determine, in the presence of suspected infection, whether the implanted device can be maintained or should be removed in this high risk population.