Indocyanine green(ICG)near-infrared imaging technology has significant research value in laparoscopic radical gastrectomy and has garnered widespread attention and research both domestically and internationally.However,the application of ICG near-infrared ima-ging technology in laparoscopic radical gastrectomy is still in the exploratory stage in current clinical practice,with no unified standards es-tablished as yet.This review introduces the mechanism of ICG fluorescence imaging and discusses the indications and contraindications of ICG use in laparoscopic radical gastrectomy.The application methods and procedures of ICG molecular fluorescence imaging technology in laparoscopic radical gastrectomy and its clinical applications are elaborated upon.Finally,the practical applications of ICG-guided laparo-scopic radical gastrectomy is summarized and generalized to help facilitate its promotion and further standardization.

Objective: This study compared the outcomes of laparotomic radical hysterectomy (LRH) and minimally invasive radical hysterectomy (MISRH) in patients with early-stage cervical cancer. Methods: The clinical data of patients with early-stage cervical cancer who underwent LRH or MISRH (laparoscopic/robotic) at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Branch, from 2002 to 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. The surgical safety (operation time, blood loss, blood transfusion rate, length of postoperative stay, and perioperative complications), overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and recurrence pattern were analyzed. Propensity score matching (PSM) at a 3:1 ratio was performed to balance prognostic variables. Results: Of the 760 patients (entire cohort), 614 underwent LRH and 146 underwent MISRH.After PSM, 394 and 140 patients were included in the LRH and MISRH groups, respectively.The 5-year OS rate was significantly lower in the MISRH group than in the LRH group (85.6% vs. 93.2%, p=0.043), and the 5-year DFS rate (p=0.21) did not differ significantly. After PSM, the 5-year OS rates did not differ significantly between the MISRH and LRH groups (87.1% vs. 92.1%, p=0.393). The MISRH group had a significantly shorter operation time (p<0.001), lower intraoperative blood loss (p<0.001), lower blood transfusion rate (p<0.001), and shorter postoperative stay (p<0.001) but a significantly higher rate of intraoperative bladder injury (p<0.001) than the LRH group. Conclusion After PSM, MISRH is associated with nonsignificantly lower OS but a significantly higher risk of intraoperative urological complications than LRH.

Objective: This study compared the outcomes of laparotomic radical hysterectomy (LRH) and minimally invasive radical hysterectomy (MISRH) in patients with early-stage cervical cancer. Methods: The clinical data of patients with early-stage cervical cancer who underwent LRH or MISRH (laparoscopic/robotic) at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Branch, from 2002 to 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. The surgical safety (operation time, blood loss, blood transfusion rate, length of postoperative stay, and perioperative complications), overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and recurrence pattern were analyzed. Propensity score matching (PSM) at a 3:1 ratio was performed to balance prognostic variables. Results: Of the 760 patients (entire cohort), 614 underwent LRH and 146 underwent MISRH.After PSM, 394 and 140 patients were included in the LRH and MISRH groups, respectively.The 5-year OS rate was significantly lower in the MISRH group than in the LRH group (85.6% vs. 93.2%, p=0.043), and the 5-year DFS rate (p=0.21) did not differ significantly. After PSM, the 5-year OS rates did not differ significantly between the MISRH and LRH groups (87.1% vs. 92.1%, p=0.393). The MISRH group had a significantly shorter operation time (p<0.001), lower intraoperative blood loss (p<0.001), lower blood transfusion rate (p<0.001), and shorter postoperative stay (p<0.001) but a significantly higher rate of intraoperative bladder injury (p<0.001) than the LRH group. Conclusion After PSM, MISRH is associated with nonsignificantly lower OS but a significantly higher risk of intraoperative urological complications than LRH.

Objective: This study compared the outcomes of laparotomic radical hysterectomy (LRH) and minimally invasive radical hysterectomy (MISRH) in patients with early-stage cervical cancer. Methods: The clinical data of patients with early-stage cervical cancer who underwent LRH or MISRH (laparoscopic/robotic) at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Branch, from 2002 to 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. The surgical safety (operation time, blood loss, blood transfusion rate, length of postoperative stay, and perioperative complications), overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and recurrence pattern were analyzed. Propensity score matching (PSM) at a 3:1 ratio was performed to balance prognostic variables. Results: Of the 760 patients (entire cohort), 614 underwent LRH and 146 underwent MISRH.After PSM, 394 and 140 patients were included in the LRH and MISRH groups, respectively.The 5-year OS rate was significantly lower in the MISRH group than in the LRH group (85.6% vs. 93.2%, p=0.043), and the 5-year DFS rate (p=0.21) did not differ significantly. After PSM, the 5-year OS rates did not differ significantly between the MISRH and LRH groups (87.1% vs. 92.1%, p=0.393). The MISRH group had a significantly shorter operation time (p<0.001), lower intraoperative blood loss (p<0.001), lower blood transfusion rate (p<0.001), and shorter postoperative stay (p<0.001) but a significantly higher rate of intraoperative bladder injury (p<0.001) than the LRH group. Conclusion After PSM, MISRH is associated with nonsignificantly lower OS but a significantly higher risk of intraoperative urological complications than LRH.

Objective: Anxious depression is a prevalent characteristic observed in Asian psychiatric patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD). This study aims to investigate the prevalence and clinical presentation of anxious depression in Taiwanese individuals diagnosed with MDD. Methods: We recruited psychiatric outpatients aged over 18 who had been diagnosed with MDD through clinical interviews. This recruitment took place at five hospitals located in northern Taiwan. We gathered baseline clinical and demographic information from the participants. Anxious depression was identified using a threshold of an anxiety/somatization factor score ≥7 on the 21-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D). Results: In our study of 399 patients (84.21% female), 64.16% met the criteria for anxious depression. They tended to be older, married, less educated, with more children, and an older age of onset. Anxious depression patients had higher HAM-D and Clinical Global Impression–Severity scale score, more panic disorder (without agoraphobia), and exhibited symptoms like agitation, irritability, concentration difficulties, psychological and somatic anxiety, somatic complaints, hypochondriasis, weight loss, and increased insight. Surprisingly, their suicide rates did not significantly differ from non-anxious depression patients. This highlights the importance of recognizing and addressing these unique characteristics. Conclusion Our study findings unveiled that the prevalence of anxious depression among Taiwanese outpatients diagnosed with MDD was lower compared to inpatients but substantially higher than the reported rates in European countries and the United States. Furthermore, patients with anxious depression exhibited a greater occurrence of somatic symptoms.

Background/Aims: Exacerbating factors of ulcerative colitis (UC) are multiple and complex with individual influence. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of disease control by searching and restricting inflammation trigger factors of UC relapse individually in daily clinical practice. Methods: Both patients with UC history or new diagnosis were asked to avoid dairy products at first doctor visit. Individual-reported potential trigger factors were restricted when UC flared up (Mayo endoscopy score ≥1) from remission status. The remission rate, duration to remission and medication were analyzed between the groups of factor restriction complete, incomplete and unknown. Results: The total remission rate was 91.7% of 108 patients with complete restriction of dairy product. The duration to remission of UC history group was significantly longer than that of new diagnosis group (88.5 days vs. 43.4 days, P=0.006) in patients with initial endoscopic score 2–3, but no difference in patients with score 1. After first remission, the inflammation trigger factors in 161 relapse episodes of 72 patients were multiple and personal. Milk/dairy products, herb medicine/Chinese tonic food and dietary supplement were the common factors, followed by psychological issues, non-dietary factors (smoking cessation, cosmetic products) and discontinuation of medication by patients themselves. Factor unknown accounted for 14.1% of patients. The benefits of factor complete restriction included shorter duration to remission (P<0.001), less steroid and biological agent use (P=0.022) when compared to incomplete restriction or factor unknown group. Conclusions Restriction of dairy diet first then searching and restricting trigger factors personally if UC relapse can improve the disease control and downgrade the medication usage of UC patients in daily clinical practice.

The application of minimal invasive mastectomy has allowed surgeons to perform nipplesparing mastectomy via a shorter, inconspicuous incision under clear vision and with more precise hemostasis. However, it poses new challenges in microsurgical breast reconstruction, such as vascular anastomosis and flap insetting, which are considerably more difficult to perform through the shorter incision on the lateral breast border. We propose an innovative technique of transcutaneous medial fixation sutures to help in flap insetting and creating and maintaining the medial breast border. The sutures are placed after mastectomy and before flap transfer. Three 4-0 nylon suture loops are placed transcutaneously and into the pocket at the markings of the preferred lower medial border of the reconstructed breast. After microvascular anastomosis and temporary shaping of the flap on top of the mastectomy skin, the three corresponding points for the sutures are identified. The three nylon loops are then sutured to the dermis of the corresponding medial point of the flap. The flap is placed into the pocket by a simultaneous gentle pull on the three sutures and a combined lateral push. The stitches are then tied and buried after completion of flap inset.

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment on postoperative pain in patients with degenerative lumbar spine disease, and explored the relationship between the postoperative analgesic effect of acupuncture and the sensation of acupuncture experienced by the patients. METHODS: This retrospective study analyzed the medical records of 97 patients who had undergone an operation by the same surgeon due to degenerative lumbar disease. These patients were divided into acupuncture group (n = 32), patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) group (n = 27), and oral analgesia group (n = 38) according to the different postoperative analgesic methods. During their hospitalization, patients completed daily evaluations of their pain using a visual analogue scale (VAS), and injection times of supplemental meperidine were recorded. Also, the Chinese version of the Massachusetts General Hospital Acupuncture Sensation Scale (C-MASS) was used in the acupuncture group. RESULTS: Each of the three treatment groups showed significant reductions in postoperative pain, as shown by reduced VAS scores. The acupuncture group, however, had less rebound pain (P < 0.05) than the other two groups. Both the acupuncture and PCA groups experienced acute analgesic effects that were superior to those in the oral analgesia group. In addition, the higher the C-MASS index on the second day after surgery, the lower the VAS score on the fourth day after surgery. There was also a significant difference in the "dull pain" in the acupuncture sensation. CONCLUSION The results demonstrated that acupuncture was beneficial for postoperative pain and discomfort after simple surgery for degenerative spinal disease. It is worth noting that there was a disproportionate relevance between the patient's acupuncture sensation and the improvement of pain VAS score.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Analgesia/methods* ; Analgesics/therapeutic use* ; Consensus ; Humans ; Pain, Postoperative/drug therapy* ; Prospective Studies ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensation

Background: Direct-to-implant (DTI) breast reconstruction after nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) with the use of acellular dermal matrix (ADM) provides reliable outcomes; however, the use of ADM is associated with a higher risk of complications. We analyzed our experiences of post-NSM DTI without ADM and identified the predictive factors of adverse surgical outcomes. Methods: Patients who underwent NSM and immediate DTI or two-stage tissue expander (TE) breast reconstruction from 2009 to 2020 were enrolled. Predictors of adverse endpoints were analyzed. Results: There were 100 DTI and 29 TE reconstructions. The TE group had a higher rate of postmastectomy radiotherapy (31% vs. 11%; P=0.009), larger specimens (317.37±176.42 g vs. 272.08±126.33 g; P=0.047), larger implants (360.84±85.19 g vs. 298.83±81.13 g; P=0.004) and a higher implant/TE exposure ratio (10.3% vs. 1%; P=0.035). In DTI reconstruction, age over 50 years (odds ratio [OR], 5.43; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.50–19.74; P=0.010) and a larger mastectomy weight (OR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.08–2.51; P=0.021) were associated with a higher risk of acute complications. Intraoperative radiotherapy for the nipple-areolar complex increased the risk of acute complications (OR, 4.05; 95% CI, 1.07–15.27; P=0.039) and the likelihood of revision surgery (OR, 5.57; 95% CI, 1.25–24.93; P=0.025). Conclusions Immediate DTI breast reconstruction following NSM is feasible in Asian patients with smaller breasts.

Background: Direct-to-implant (DTI) breast reconstruction after nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) with the use of acellular dermal matrix (ADM) provides reliable outcomes; however, the use of ADM is associated with a higher risk of complications. We analyzed our experiences of post-NSM DTI without ADM and identified the predictive factors of adverse surgical outcomes. Methods: Patients who underwent NSM and immediate DTI or two-stage tissue expander (TE) breast reconstruction from 2009 to 2020 were enrolled. Predictors of adverse endpoints were analyzed. Results: There were 100 DTI and 29 TE reconstructions. The TE group had a higher rate of postmastectomy radiotherapy (31% vs. 11%; P=0.009), larger specimens (317.37±176.42 g vs. 272.08±126.33 g; P=0.047), larger implants (360.84±85.19 g vs. 298.83±81.13 g; P=0.004) and a higher implant/TE exposure ratio (10.3% vs. 1%; P=0.035). In DTI reconstruction, age over 50 years (odds ratio [OR], 5.43; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.50–19.74; P=0.010) and a larger mastectomy weight (OR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.08–2.51; P=0.021) were associated with a higher risk of acute complications. Intraoperative radiotherapy for the nipple-areolar complex increased the risk of acute complications (OR, 4.05; 95% CI, 1.07–15.27; P=0.039) and the likelihood of revision surgery (OR, 5.57; 95% CI, 1.25–24.93; P=0.025). Conclusions Immediate DTI breast reconstruction following NSM is feasible in Asian patients with smaller breasts.