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Neck trauma in childhood resulting in trachea rupture lesions is an extremely rare but always life-threatening injury. Even if initial clinical signs are minimal, significant airway compromise always has to be considered. Mechanisms of accident and etiologies regarding especially the true impact forces of the trauma are various making standardized emergency management and health care difficult. Two opposite and exceptional case reports are presented and discussed in front of an extended literature overview.

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Our descriptive technical report on 7 children describes the microsurgical laser scalpel as an useful tool for removal of firm and soft lesions from a variety of delicate tissues. It combines precise atraumatic tissue dissection with immediate hemostasis while having no adverse side effects on adjacent and neighbouring tissues even through a limited surgical access.

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In a retrospective study, we examined 23 pre-term infants (18 boys, 5 girls) with a median weight of 1540 g (range 720-2770 g) and a median age of 32 weeks (range 25-36 weeks) gestation, who were subsequently operated on after a median of 65 days (range 20-121 days) for 33 inguinal hernias. The infants were evaluated with respect to concomitant diseases as well as peri- and postoperative complications. The following surgical procedure was used in all patients: a high suture ligation after excision of the hernia sac, followed by closure of the groin according to Grob in boys, and according to Bassini in girls. Co-morbidity was high in the pre-term infants, both pre- and perinatally. Despite this high co-morbidity and a high rate of emergency operations due to incarcerations, the postoperative complication rate was very low. However, the rate of testicular atrophy (10%) and recurrent inguinal hernia (9%) registered by us in the median follow-up of 575 days (range 105-1118 days) was much higher than that seen in older infants. Nevertheless, based on the low perioperative complication rate registered in the present study, we postulate that early surgery is tenable in pre-term infants despite the high co-morbidity and is even meaningful for the purpose of reducing the high rate of incarceration and testicular atrophy. The high recurrence rate in pre-term infants appears to be related to the numerous concomitant diseases in these patients, the resultant increase in intra-abdominal pressure and the small size of anatomical structures.

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Penetrating injuries of the tracheobronchial tree in children are very rare. With prompt diagnosis nonoperative treatment seems to be appropriate and safe without complications. Delayed diagnosis may result in surgical exploration with severe complications afterwards caused by poor condition at the time of intervention. Two children with penetrating tracheobronchial injuries were referred to our pediatric surgical center in the last 12 years. A 10-year-old boy suffered an iatrogenic penetrating injury of the tracheobronchial tree, and a 6-year-old boy a direct penetrating injury of the distal trachea in an agricultural accident. Cervical emphysema and bronchoscopy identified the lesion in these patients. Both of them could be treated conservatively without any sequelae.

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In contrast to electrocautery, the ultrasound dissection scalpel allows tissue dissection and haemostasis to be performed without the danger of thermal tissue damage or burning caused by uncontrolled active current. In a clinical application study performed on 24 boys with an average age of six years, we examined whether the use of this instrument is also practical in a routine operation such as circumcision. It was possible to perform all operations with the ultrasound dissection scalpel (Ultracision, manufactured by Ethicon) by the classic technique without the additional use of electrocautery for haemostasis. Although dissecting speed is slower than with conventional instruments, the fact that simultaneous haemostasis is possible meant that operations could be carried out quickly and with minimal bleeding. There were no perioperative complications such as haemorrhaging or burning. All children were examined postoperatively over an average of 3 weeks (range 1-8 weeks). Wound healing was completely without complications for 22 patients (92%). One patient (4%) suffered a candidal infection in the first postoperative week. One further patient (4%), who was already suffering preoperatively from an extended chronic inflammation of the prepuce, developed pronounced swelling postoperatively. Heavy scarring occurred subsequently in both cases. Our results show that the advantages of the ultrasound dissection scalpel, e.g. gentle tissue dissection with simultaneous haemostasis, can also be used to advantage for a technically simple operation such as circumcision without having to fear the risks of electrocautery.

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PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate surgical complications and the outcome of grade II and III varicoceles treated with Tauber's antegrade scrotal sclerotherapy. METHODS: A total of 21 patients with a median age of 13 (range, 10 to 21) years and left-sided grade II and III varicoceles were treated with Tauber's antegrade scrotal sclerotherapy and underwent follow-up over a median period of 23 months (range, 9 to 35). RESULTS: One grade II varicocele persisted after antegrade sclerotherapy for 6 months. After a second sclerotherapy 6 months later, no further recurrence was detected. One patient with a grade II to III varicocele had a grade I varicocele recurrence 14 months after operation. Three patients showed a slight hydrocele postoperatively. CONCLUSION: This limited series indicates that Tauber's antegrade scrotal sclerotherapy is a safe and effective treatment for grade II and III varicoceles in children and adolescents.

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