Objective To investigate the feasibility of laparoscopic-assisted transanal pull-through resection and anastomosis in the treatment of ultra-low rectal cancer.Methods From November 2005 to December 2006,21 patients with ultra-low rectal cancer had undergone laparoscopic-assisted transanal pull-through resection and anastomosis in Southwest Hospital.The perioperative condition,postoperative complications and the result of follow-up were retrospectively analyzed.Results The operation was successfully performed on all the patients.The mean operation time and postoperative hospital stay were(216±25)minutes(170-260 minutes)and(9.4±1.0)days(7-11 days),respectively.The time needed for the recovery of gastrointestina]function was(65±14)hours(38-88 hours).The mean perioperative blood loss was(140±49)ml(80-250 ml).All the patients were followed up for(22±4)months(15-28 months),and no anastomotic bleeding or fistula was observed.Six patients developed mild to moderate anastomotic striclure,1 local recurrence and 1 liver metastasis.Conclusions Laparoscopic-assisted transanal pull-through resection and anastomosis for ultra-low rectal cancer is safe and feasible,and the short-term effect is satisfactory.

Objective To investigate the change patterns of operation time of laparoscopic appendectomy and its significance. Methods The clinical data of 105 consecutive patients with appendicitis who received laparoscopic appendectomy at the Southwest Hospital from January 2007 to March 2010 were retrospectively analyzed. Of the 105 patients, five were converted to open surgery, and they were excluded from this study.The changes in operation time of different surgeons were statistically analyzed to detect the change patterns of the learning curve in laparoscopic appendectomy. Results A hundred cases of laparoscopic appendectomy were successfully performed by three surgeons. The mean operation time was ( 87 ± 36 ) minutes ( range, 30-217 minutes). No surgical injury happened during the operation, and the blood loss was under 10 ml. The learning curve of operation time was presented as a sine curve with an oscillating decreasing trend. The primary two cycles end at an average of 9.6 cases, which could be used as the end point of the learning curve of laparoscopic appendectomy. Conclusions The learning curve of laparoscopic appendectomy shows a typical oscillating decreasing trend. The preliminary study ends when 9.6 cases of operation are completed.

Objective To summarize the experiences in laparoscopic inguinal hernia repairing for adult patients. Methods Clinical data of 512 hernia cases admitted in our center from March 2007 to Sep 2010 were retrospectively analyzed.There were 437 cases of single-sided hernia,including 281 indirect inguinal hernia,86 direct inguinal hernia,15 femoral hernia,16 combined inguinal hernia and 39 recurrent hernia.There were also 75 cases of double-sided inguinal hernia,including 3 recurrent hernia.There were 41 acute incarcerated hernia cases.The average postoperative follow up time was(29 ± 12) months. Results 507 cases underwent successful laparoscopic repair,and 5 cases were converted to open procedure.There were 238 TAPP and 269 TEP in laparoscopic operations.The average operative time for TAPP was (69 ±19) min,and (58 ±15) min for TEP.The average length of postoperative stay was (5.0 ± 1.5) days.The percentage of resuming normal activity after 2 weeks and 4 weeks were 95.7％ (485/507) and 99.0％(502/507).The most common postoperative complications were seroma (9.7％,49/507),transient paresthesia (4.1％,21/507) and chronic pain (0.8％,4/507).The recurrence rate was 0.6％ (3/507).Conclusions Laparoscopic repair of inguinal hernia has the advantage of less trauma,faster recovery,and lower recurrence rate.

Objective To summarize the experience in application of da Vinci robotic surgical system in radical resection of rectal cancer,and investigate the proper position of trocars and operative techniques.Methods The clinical data of 13 patients who received radical resection of rectal cancer accomplished by the da Vinci robotic surgical system at the Southwest Hospital from February 2010 to February 2011 were retrospectively analyzed.The patients were in lithotomy position and received combined intravenous anesthesia.Five or 4 trocars were used.Miles procedures were performed on patients with lower tumor position,and the other patients received Dixon procedure.Results The operation was successfully performed on all patients.Five trocars were selected for the first 3 patients,and 4 trocars for the other 10 patients.Nine Dixon procedures and 4 Miles procedures were selected.The mean operation time was 217.3 minutes (range,160-260 minutes).The mean operative blood loss was 53.3 ml (range,40-70 ml) in Dixon procedure and 120.0 ml (range,90-130 ml) in the Miles procedure,and no blood transfusion was needed.The mean number of lymph nodes dissected was 13.9 (range,8-21 ),and the time to bowel movement was 3.2 days (range,2-5 days).Two patients were complicated with pulmonary infection,1 with urinary tract infection,and they were cured by antimicrobial therapy.No other morbidity or mortality was found.The results of postoperative pathological examination showed that there were no residual cancer cells at the resection margin,and the distance between the resection margin and the tumor was 6.3 cm (range,3-10 cm).There were 1 patient in stage Ⅰ,5 in stage Ⅱ and 7 in stage Ⅲ.The mean time of follow-up was 5.9 months (range,3-12 months),and no recurrence or metastasis was found during follow-up.ConclusionsRadical resection of rectal cancer with da Vinci robotic surgical system utilizing 4 trocars has the advantages of minimally invasive surgery with fast recovery as well as the ease of dissection afforded by the surgical robot.

Objective To compare the rigidity at upper thoracic spine among the anterior transpedicular screw-plate system (ATPSPS),posterior transpedicle screw-rod system (PTPSRS) and anterior vertebral body screw-plate system (AVBSPS).Methods Twelve embalmed cadaver specimens were divided into three groups.The specimens in each group were randomly allocated to use the above 3 different internal fixation devices for conducting fixation.The stiffness of each specimen on the directions of axial compression,flexion and extension,and left and right lateral bending was detected under original status.All specimens conducted the simulated corpectomy of T2 (damage status).Then the rigidity on various directions was re-detected on the damage status.The corresponding internal fixation system was selected for conducting the install and fixation according to the grouping results.The intra-group and inter-group rigiditieson different directions were compared amongoriginal status,damage status and after internal fixation.Results The rigidities on different directions under original and damage statushad no statistical difference among various groups (P＜0.05).After conducting fixation in each group,the rigidity after fixation on different directions had statistically significant difference among groups(P＜0.05).The stiffness of anterior flexion in the ATPSPS group was greater than that in the other two groups (P＜0.05).The rigidity of axial compression and extension in the PTPSRS group was greater than that in the other two groups,the difference among groups was statistically significant (P＜0.05).The stiffness of lateral bending in the AVBSPS group was smaller than that in the other two groups,the difference was significant (P＜0.05),but the difference between the other two groups had no statistical significance (P＞0.05).Conclusion The rigidity of ATPSPS in all directions is higher than that of AVBSPS.The anterior flexion rigidity is greater than PTPSRS,and the axial compression and extension rigidity are less than PTPSRS,but the lateral bending rigidity is equivalent to PTPSRS.

Background:The current World Health Organization (WHO) classiifcation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) con?veys little prognostic information. This study aimed to propose an NPC histopathologic classiifcation that can poten?tially be used to predict prognosis and treatment response. Methods:We initially developed a histopathologic classiifcation based on the morphologic traits and cell differentia?tion of tumors of 2716 NPC patients who were identiifed at Sun Yat?sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC) (training cohort). Then, the proposed classiifcation was applied to 1702 patients (retrospective validation cohort) from hospitals outside SYSUCC and 1613 patients (prospective validation cohort) from SYSUCC. The effcacy of radiochemotherapy and radiotherapy modalities was compared between the proposed subtypes. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% conifdence intervals (CI) for overall survival (OS). Results:The 5?year OS rates for all NPC patients who were diagnosed with epithelial carcinoma (EC; 3708 patients), mixed sarcomatoid?epithelial carcinoma (MSEC; 1247 patients), sarcomatoid carcinoma (SC; 823 patients), and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC; 253 patients) were 79.4%, 70.5%, 59.6%, and 42.6%, respectively (P<0.001). In mul?tivariate models, patients with MSEC had a shorter OS than patients with EC (HR=1.44, 95% CI=1.27–1.62), SC (HR=2.00, 95% CI=1.76–2.28), or SCC (HR=4.23, 95% CI=3.34–5.38). Radiochemotherapy signiifcantly improved survival compared with radiotherapy alone for patients with EC (HR=0.67, 95% CI=0.56–0.80), MSEC (HR=0.58, 95% CI=0.49–0.75), and possibly for those with SCC (HR=0.63; 95% CI=0.40–0.98), but not for patients with SC (HR=0.97, 95% CI=0.74–1.28). Conclusions:The proposed classiifcation offers more information for the prediction of NPC prognosis compared with the WHO classiifcation and might be a valuable tool to guide treatment decisions for subtypes that are associ?ated with a poor prognosis.