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 explore the effects of empowerment education model on glycemic control and self-management behavior of community patients with diabetes. Method A total of 120 diabetics from 2 different communities were set as the observation group and control group. The control group was treated by routine medications and health education and the observation group was intervened with empowerment education model. After intervention for 6 months, the patients′blood glucose index and the diabetes self-management behavior were assessed and compared by scale of the diabetes self-care activities (SDSCA) between the two groups. Result By the end of the study, the glycemic index and SDSCA score in the former group were both significantly decreased than those in the control group (P<0.05), indicating the patients in the experiment group had better glycemic control and self-management behaviors compared with those in the control group. Conclusions Empowerment education model can arouse the internal motivation of patients to change their behaviors from passive to active acceptance in the health education. Empowerment education model can enhance diabetes patients′self-management conduct and the glycemic level.

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.

The research progress on Chinese medicine plant resources with pesticide activities, the active components and their reaction mechanism as well as the application and prospect were reviewed in this paper. Some proposals on the exploitation of traditional Chinese medicine plant origin pesticide were given. It is suggested to found compounds with pesticide activities from heat clearing and toxic clearing medicinal plants.
Fungicides, Industrial ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Fusarium ; drug effects ; Insecticides ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Lectins ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Pesticides ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Plant Oils ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Plant Viruses ; drug effects ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry

AIM:To compare the clinical effect of 23G and 25G+ vitrectomy for treatment of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).METHODS: A total of 128 PDR patients (195 eyes) requiring vitrectomy in our hospital from November 2013 to May 2016 were randomly divided into 25G+ group and 23G group, 64 cases (97 eyes) in 25G+ group and 64 cases (98 eyes) in 23G group.In 25G+ group, patients were treated by 25G+ vitrectomy.In 23G group, patients were treated by 23G vitrectomy.The visual acuity, as well as intraocular pressure (IOP), iatrogenic injury and complications in two groups were recorded before and 1d, 1wk, 1mo after treatment.The operation time was compared between two groups.RESULTS: The operation time in 25G+ group was lower than that in 23G group (P<0.05).The postoperative visual acuity at 1mo of two groups were improved compared with before surgery (P<0.01).However, visual acuity between two groups in the same period had no significant difference (P>0.05).IOP in 25G+ group before surgery had no significant difference compared with those after surgery at 1d,1wk, and 1mo(P>0.05), which it was the same in 23G group.IOP of two groups in the same period had no significant difference (P>0.05).The incidence rate of iatrogenic injury in 25G+ group was 4.1%, which was significant lower than that of 23G group (13.3%) (P<0.05).The incidence rate of complication in 25G+ group was 3.1%, which was significant lower than that of 23G group (11.2%) (P<0.05).CONCLUSION: Both 23G and 25G+ vitrectomy are safe and effective treatment for PDR.However, 25G+ vitrectomy is the better choice for PDR for the shorter operation time, lower incidence rate of iatrogenic injury and fewer surgical complications.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy of abdominal acupuncture for adhesion-stage shoulder periarthritis.

METHODSOne hundred and fifty-seven cases of shoulder periarthritis were randomly divided into an abdominal acupuncture group (79 cases) and a body acupuncture group (78 cases). The abdominal acupuncture was applied at Zhongwan (CV 12), Shangqu (KI 17) and Huaroumen (ST 24) in the abdominal acupuncture group while conventional acupuncture was applied at Jianyu (LI 15), Jianliao (TE 14) and Jianzhen (SI 9) in the body acupuncture group. The treatment was given three times a week for both groups and ten times made an observation course. Before and after treatment, visual analogue scale (VAS) was adopted for pain assessment and functional activity score (Mallet score) was used for shoulder joint function assessment for all the patients. Also the efficacy of both groups was compared.

RESULTSThe total effective rate in the abdominal acupuncture group was 92.4% (73/79), which was superior to 71.8% (56/78) in the body acupuncture group. The score of VAS after the treatment was 2.58 +/- 1.64 in the abdominal acupuncture group while 3.12 +/- 1.93 in the body acupuncture group, which had no statistical significance between each other (P > 0.05). The functional activity score after the treatment was 8.34 +/- 3.02 in the abdominal acupuncture group while 7.49 +/- 3.36 in the body acupuncture group, which had no statistical significance between each other (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe abdominal acupuncture is an ideal treatment for adhesion-stage shoulder periarthritis, which has better total efficacy than conventional acupuncture. It achieves the same effect in relieving pain and improving functional activity as conventional acupuncture, but also has an advantage at fast selection of acupoint and less discomfort of needling sensation.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Periarthritis ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Shoulder ; physiopathology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical manifestation, individualized surgical treatment, and prognosis of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMN) of pancreas.

METHODSThe clinical data of 56 IPMN cases treated between January 2007 and December 2011 was retrospectively analyzed. Among the 56 patients (38 male and 18 female, mean age (61 ± 7) years), 26 were main-duct type, 18 were branch-duct type, 12 were mixed type. Pancreatectomy was performed on 48 cases, including pancreaticoduodenectomy on 29 patients, distal pancreatectomy on 17 patients, and total pancreatectomy on 2 patients.

RESULTSThe overall postoperative morbidity rate was 27.1% (13/48), there was no perioperative mortality. Pathology showed 31 cases of noninvasive IPMN, 17 cases of invasive IPMN, and 7 cases of lymph node metastasis. The rate of invasive tumors was 46.2% (12/26) in main duct type, 3/12 in mixed type, and 2/18 in branch duct type IPMN, the difference was statistically significant (χ(2) = 6.385, P = 0.041). The five-year survival rate for patients with noninvasive and invasive neoplasms was 100% and 24.6%, respectively. The prognosis of invasive cases with lymph node metastasis was significantly worse than those without lymph node metastasis (P = 0.017). A regular follow-up without surgical treatment was performed on 8 cases with asymptomatic side branch IPMN less than 3 cm in diameter, and no progression was found during the follow-up.

CONCLUSIONSIPMN has a relative good prognosis. Main duct type and mixed type IPMN have a higher malignant potential, and should receive a surgical treatment. Patients of branch duct type IPMN with a <3 cm diameter lesion and no clinical manifestations can be managed with close follow-up only.

Aged ; Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal ; pathology ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatectomy ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; pathology ; surgery ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

BACKGROUNDIt is essential to establish an animal model for the elucidation of the biological behaviors of stem cells in vivo. We constructed a chimeric animal model by in utero transplantation for investigation of stem cell transplantation.

METHODSThis chimerism was achieved by injecting the stem cells derived from the bone marrow of green fluorescence protein (GFP)-transgenic mice into fetal mice at 13.5 days of gestation. Several methods such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), real-time PCR, fluorescence-assisted cell sorting (FACS) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were used for the observation of donor cells.

RESULTSUnder a fluorescence microscope, we observed the GFP cells of donor-origin in a recipient. PCR, FACS analysis and FISH indicated chimerism at various intervals. Real-time PCR indicated that some donor cells existed in chimera for more than 6 months.

CONCLUSIONSAllogenic stem cells may exist in recipients for a long time and this allogenic animal model provides a useful tool for studying the behavior of hematopoietic stem cells and also offers an effective model system for the study of stem cells.

Animals ; Female ; Flow Cytometry ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Mice ; Models, Animal ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Transplantation Chimera ; Transplantation, Homologous

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the clinical outcome of extended retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy as surgical therapy for adenocarcinoma of the head of the pancreas.

METHODSTwenty patients with adenocarcinoma of the head of the pancreas were treated by standard pancreatoduodenectomy (standard group) between 1994 and 1997, and 46 patients with the same disease underwent extended retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy associated with standard pancreatoduodenectomy (radical group) between 1998 and 2002. Clinical and pathological parameters in both groups were reviewed. The postoperative morbidity, mortality, and survival data were compared.

RESULTSThe mean total number of lymph nodes resected was significantly higher in the radical group than in the standard group (P < 0.05). Of the 46 patients in the radical group, 26.09% (12/46) had metastatic adenocarcinoma in the resected retroperitoneal lymph nodes. There was one perioperative death in the standard group and two in the radical group. Postoperative diarrhea and lymphatic leakage were only observed in the radical group. Transfusion requirements and postoperative morbidity did not differ between the two groups. The 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival rates were 63.16%, 31.58%, and 21.05% in the standard group, and 65.91%, 37.71%, and 21.21% in the radical group (P > 0.05). When the subgroups of patients with positive lymph nodes were analyzed, the 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival rates were 41.67%, 16.67%, and 8.33% in the standard group, and 64.52%, 32.26%, and 12.9% in the radical group (P < 0.05). A trend toward a better survival was observed in the first 2 years after operation in the radical group, but with no significant differences 2 years later.

CONCLUSIONThe addition of an extended lymphadenectomy may improve the early survival without increasing the morbidity, but has no significant effect on long-term survival.

Adenocarcinoma ; mortality ; pathology ; surgery ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Lymph Node Excision ; methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; mortality ; pathology ; surgery ; Pancreaticoduodenectomy ; Postoperative Complications ; Retroperitoneal Space ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

BACKGROUNDNowadays, there is a remarkable rise in resectability rate of periampullary adenocarcinoma and the mortality and morbidity of the pancreaticoduodenectomy procedure have been reduced remarkably, while the 5 year survival rates of patients with carcinoma of the head of the pancreas are still below 25%. We conducted this retrospective study to evaluate the clinical outcome of radical pancreaticoduodenectomy with extended retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy as a surgical therapy for adenocarcinoma of the head of the pancreas.

METHODSTwenty cases with adenocarcinoma of the head of the pancreas were treated by standard pancreaticoduodenectomy (removing only the peripancreatic lymph nodes en bloc with the tumour) from 1994 to 1997, and 46 cases with the same disease underwent extended retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy associated with standard pancreaticoduodenectomy from 1998 to 2002. The patients for whom there were insufficient follow-up data, or who had received postoperative adjuvant therapy, were excluded from the analysis. Clinical and pathological parameters of both groups were reviewed. The postoperative morbidity, mortality and survival data were compared statistically.

RESULTSDemographic and histopathological characteristics were similar in the two groups of patients. Performance of the extended lymphadenectomy lengthened the procedure. The mean total number of lymph nodes resected was significantly higher in the radical group (P < 0.05). Of the 46 cases in the radical group, 26% (12/46) had metastatic adenocarcinoma in the resected retroperitoneal lymph nodes. There was one perioperative death in the standard group, and two in the radical group. Postoperative diarrhoea and lymphatic leakage were only observed in the radical group. Transfusion requirements and postoperative morbidity rates did not differ between the two groups. The 1-, 2- and 3-year survival rates were 63%, 32% and 21% respectively in the standard group, and 66%, 38% and 21% in the radical group. No statistically significant difference was found between the groups. When subgroups of node positive patients were analysed, the 1-, 2- and 3-year survival rates were 42%, 17% and 8% respectively in the standard group, and 65%, 32% and 16% in the radical group. Better survival was observed in the first 2 years after operation in the radical group, but no survival differences were seen after 2 years post operation.

CONCLUSIONSThe addition of an extended lymphadenectomy to a pancreaticoduodenectomy did not significantly increase morbidity rates, but was associated with an early survival advantage.

Adenocarcinoma ; mortality ; surgery ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Lymph Node Excision ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; mortality ; surgery ; Pancreaticoduodenectomy ; Retroperitoneal Space ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Outcome