תוצאת חיפוש

Burch Laparoscopic Procedure for Repairing Proven Stress Incontinence

Moshe Bustan, Shabtai Romano, Raed Salim, Jacob Rosenman, Eliezer Shalev

Depts. of Obstetric and Gynecology and of Urology, HaEmek Medical Center, Afula

There are more than 200 procedures for repairing stress urinary incontinence. We evaluated the safety and efficiency of the Burch laparoscopic procedure in 32 women with urodynamically proven genuine stress incontinence.

Mean operating time was 40 minutes and mean hospitalization time after the procedure was 30 hours. The cure rate was 97%, similar to that rin other studies (80-95%). The major complications w2 cases (6.2%) of unintended bladder injury, diagnosed and repaired laparoscopically. Although follow-up has only been for 3-42 months, the high cure rate and safety and advantages of laparoscopy over laparotomy, make laparoscopic Burch colposuspension the procedure of choice for repairing stress incontinence.

Smoking by an Israeli Hospital Staff, its Attitude to Smoking in Hospitals and to “Smoke-Free” Hospitals

Shabtai Varsano, Giora Hevion, Mila Garenkin

Depts. of Pulmonary Medicine, Asthma Care-Education Unit, Hospital Management Office, and Epidemiology and Medical Data Unit; Meir General Hospital, Sapir Medical Center, Kfar Saba and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University

Smoking within hospitals is common in general hospitals in Israel. It has a strong negative educational impact, has a negative image and curing its ill effects help keep our hospitals busy. An anonymous questionnaire was answered by 128 members of our hospital staff (28%). Their distribution, according to occupation and sex was representative of the rest of our hospital staff.

19% of our workers are smokers, a much lower proportion than in our general adult population. The proportion was highest among maintenance (40%) and sanitary-help staff (36%). 23% of nurses and 15% of physicians were smokers. This situation is better than that among Italian or Japanese medical staff, but much worse than among North American medical staff.

75% of our workers who smoke declared that they smoke outside the room in which they work. 66% and 72% of the staff believe that hospital workers and visitors, respectively, should smoke outside hospital buildings. Only 19% of all workers do not believe that a "smoke-free hospital" is attainable. 34% believe that a "smoke-free hospital" is achievable, and 47% said that it is perhaps achievable. 86% of all the workers, and 41% of the smokers, expect the hospital director to implement an effective policy of enforcing the law limiting smoking within hospitals (and other public buildings) in Israel. 60% are willing to contribute actively to this effort.

We believe these results strongly suggest that the time is ripe for implementation of the "smoke-free hospital" in Israel. This requires a strong and effective central policy, like that in the USA. We suggest measures that the Israel Ministry of Health take measures to successfully implement this policy.

Preliminary Report of Experience with Laparoscopic Splenectomy

Joseph Kuriansky, Ron Bilik, Moshe Shabtai, Itamar Avigad, Amram Ayalon

Depts. of General Surgery and Transplantation and Pediatric Surgery, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer; and Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University

Laparoscopic splenectomy is effective and technically feasible for treating various hematological diseases such as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), congenital sphero„cytosis, hemolytic anemia, and Hodgkin's lymphoma. An anterior approach to the vascular pedicle is usually described. However, in this approach to the splenic hilum, the dissection of the splenic artery is frequently difficult. The laparoscopic posterolateral approach involves dissection of the posterolateral attachments to the diaphragm, followed by the disection and ligation of all splenic branches near the splenic parenchyma. We used it in 9 adults and 4 children: 11 patients had ITP, 1 spherocytosis and 1 Hodgkin's lymphoma.

This procedure was completed in 13 patients, but in 2 it had to be converted to open surgery. Mean operating time was 3 hours and mean postoperative stay 3 days. Blood transfusion was not required and there were no postoperative complications.

Laparoscopic splenectomy is safe in both adults and children, and the posterolateral approach provides excellent visualization and allows control of the branches of the splenic vein and artery in the splenic hilum.

Proper use of Pressurized Hand-Held Inhalers in Patients with Chronic Airway Obstruction 

Shabtai Varsano, Ilana Jacoby, Mila Garenkin

Asthma Care and Education Unit, Dept. of Pulmonary Medicine, and Epidemiology Unit, Meir General Hospital, Sapir Medical Center, Kfar Saba; and Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University

Inhaling drugs via hand-held inhalers in recommended for those with chronic obstructive airway disease (COPD). Approximately 8%-9% of Israel's population use hand-held inhalers, many of them pressurized. Skill in using them and ability of chronic users to learn their proper use have not been assessed.

During 1993 and 1994 we studied 200 patients with bronchial asthma or COPD who regularly used a pressurized hand-held inhaler (PI), but were not trained to use it in our out-patient pulmonary clinic. Only a third were found to be skilled in its use. About half were completely unable to use it properly, and 17% used it in a suboptimal way. Remarkably, only 40% had been taught anything with regard to its use. About 75% of the suboptimal users significantly improved their skill in its use immediately after receiving a single individual teaching and corrective demonstration session. While 15% failed to learn the proper use of the PI, many of those who improved immediately after a single teaching session retained the learned skills for months.

We conclude that the physician who recommends the use of a PI is responsible for the patient's being taught its proper use in a demonstration session. Skill in its use should be reassessed periodically during the entire treatment period.

Laparoscopic Approach to Perforated Duodenal Ulcer

D. Rosin, Y. Kurianski, M. Shabtai, A. Ayalon

Dept. of General Surgery and Transplantation, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University

As laparoscopy becomes more prevalent, it is being used for a growing variety of abdominal operations, both electively and as emergency treatment. We describe our preliminary experience in laparoscopic repair of perforated duodenal ulcer. 2 women and 2 men, aged 40-78 were operated over a period of 4 months and in all laparoscopic suture and omentopexy were performed with meticulous abdominal lavage. Despite somewhat longer operative time but a similar period of hospitalization, the easier post-operative course and fewer wound complications justify this technique. The effectiveness of medical treatment of peptic disease, and especially the anti-Helicobacter pylori regimen, supports the view that closure of the perforation is usually enough, and vagotomy is not needed.

Surgical Approach to Benign Cecal Ulcer

J. Haik, A. Judich, I. Barshack, M. Ben-Haim, M. Shabtai, A. Ayalon

Dept. of Surgery B and Pathology Institute, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University

Benign cecal ulcer is a rare lesion, usually diagnosed during operation for suspected acute appendicitis or peritonitis of unknown origin. In the past, right hemicolectomy was recommended as the treatment of choice because of the difficulty in differentiating malignant lesions from benign cecal ulcers. However, in recent reports a more conservative approach has been suggested, consisting of selective colectomy followed by frozen section biopsy. This approach is aimed at preventing unnecessary excision of the colon and conserving the ileocecal valve. We present a 47-year-old woman operated for right lower quadrant peritonitis, believed to be due to acute appendicitis. On exploration, a biopsy-proven benign cecal ulcer was found and resected.