Background: National basic laparoscopic skills curricula have been developed and are being incorporated into training programs. Additional procedural based simulator curricula are needed. Our aim was to compare two laparoscopic ventral hernia simulators.Methods: Novices (n=7) were enrolled in an IRB approved protocol. They trained to proficiency on the 9 basic laparoscopic tasks of the Lap […]
IntroductionMorbid obesity has been on the rise in the United States. A decade ago, open vertical gastroplasty was a popular restrictive gastric surgery for weight reduction with a high failure rate. We report our experience in a single institution in converting vertical band gastroplasty (VBG) to roux en y gastric bypass (RYGB) laparoscopically. MethodsA prospective […]
Background: Diaphragm movement is essential for adequate ventilation and when the diaphragm is adversely affected patients face life long positive pressure mechanical ventilation or death. This report summarizes the complete world wide multi-center experience with the diaphragm pacing stimulation (DPS) system to maintain and provide diaphragm function for ventilation.Methods: In prospective FDA trials, patients underwent […]
Background: It has been hypothesized that patients who are super-super morbidly obese, defined as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 60 or higher, have an increased rate of post-operative complications. As surgical techniques and operator experience with Roux en Y gastric bypass improved with time, the selection criteria have expanded to include the super-super […]
BACKGROUND: Transanal ileus tube is introduced into obstructive colorectal cancer in October, 1997 in our hospital, and many cases of obstructing colorectal cancer successfully managed by preoperative lavage using transanal ileus tube. Moreover, because transanal ileus tube was originally developed, decompression tube was transanally inserted into the colon more safely than before. In addition, in […]