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Gastrointestinal perforations usually lead to pneumoperitoneum and peritonitis. Rarely, if ever described, a complete giant staghorn renal stone might cause a nephrocolic fistula with sigmoid impaction and perforation similar to gallstone ileus. Few nephrointestinal fistulae have been described in the literature and none of them were presented as an acute abdomen with pneumoperitoneum and pneumoretroperitoneum. To our knowledge, this is the only case showing CT and radiographic findings of a pathology not yet described in the literature. We named the sigmoid perforation by a renal stone ileus "Lorenzi's syndrome" after the physician who hypothesized this rare differential diagnosis based only on history and clinical examination.

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The use of laparoscopy in generalized peritonitis has become increasingly frequent in recent years. However, CO2 pneumoperitoneum in association with increased intraperitoneal pressure may have deleterious effects in patients with hemodynamic or metabolic disturbances caused by bacterial peritonitis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of CO2 pneumoperitoneum on bacteremia, mean arterial pressure, and blood gas disturbances in an animal model of bacterial peritonitis. Dogs were anesthetized, orally intubated, and subjected to experimental peritonitis by intraperitoneal inoculation of a suspension containing Escherichia coli and sterile dog feces. The animals were randomly assigned to two groups: control animals were maintained under anesthesia, and the insufflated animals were subjected to intraperitoneal CO2 insufflation. Bacterial peritonitis provoked the appearance of bacteremia and a significant decrease in mean arterial pressure, pH, bicarbonate, and base deficit. The induction of bacterial peritonitis did not significantly influence pH in the control group and partial pressure of arterial CO2 in either group. Thirty minutes of CO2 pneumoperitoneum did not influence the effect of bacterial peritonitis on the analyzed variables. These results suggest that laparoscopic CO2 pneumoperitoneum does not aggravate bacteremia or metabolic and hemodynamic disturbances induced by bacterial peritonitis.

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BACKGROUND: Considerable skepticism still exists about the role of diagnostic laparoscopy in the evaluation of penetrating abdominal trauma. The reported experience with therapeutic laparoscopy has been limited. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of a collective experience from three large urban trauma centers with 510 patients (316 stab wounds, 194 gunshot wounds) who were hemodynamically stable and had no urgent indications for celiotomy. RESULTS: Laparotomy was avoided in 277 of the 510 patients (54.3%) either because of nonpenetration or insignificant findings on laparoscopy. All were discharged uneventfully after a mean hospital stay of 1.7 days. Twenty-six had successful therapeutic procedures on laparoscopy (diaphragmatic repair in 16 patients, cholecystectomy in 1 patient, hepatic repair in 6 patients, and closure of gastrotomy in 3 patients) with uneventful recovery. In the remaining 203 patients, laparotomy was therapeutic in 155. Fifty-two patients had nontherapeutic celiotomy for exclusion of bowel injuries or as mandatory laparotomy for penetrating gunshot wounds (19.7%). The overall incidence of nontherapeutic laparotomy was 10.2%. Complications from laparoscopy were minimal (10 of 510) and minor. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopy has an important diagnostic role in stable patients with penetrating abdominal trauma. In carefully selected patients, therapeutic laparoscopy is practical, feasible, and offers all the advantages of minimally invasive surgery.

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Traumatic injuries of the extrahepatic biliary tract are infrequent, occurring in approximately 0.5% of all patients with blunt and penetrating abdominal trauma. The incidence of this injury due to blunt abdominal trauma is rare. This study reviewed patients with injuries of the extrahepatic biliary tract due to abdominal trauma over a 6-year period to determine the incidence, trauma scores, associated injuries, surgical treatment performed, complications and mortality rate. We report our experience with 14 patients with extrahepatic biliary tract trauma. A review of the literature and the discussion about the management are presented.

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Gallstone ileus, a mechanical intestinal obstruction caused by the passage of a gallstone into the intestinal lumen through a fistula, although not common, deserves to more carefully studied due to its morbidity and mortality. Its incidence among older-age groups explains its association with chronic and degenerative diseases, which increase the complexity of the treatment choice. The need and appropriateness of a surgical approach to a cholecystenteric fistula to solve the obstructive emergency, in a one or two stage procedure, has been discussed in the literature. It has also been reported that gallstone ileus is an uncommon cause of upper intestinal obstruction. Intestinal obstruction is seen more frequently after a gallstone impacts at the ileocecal valve. The authors report a case of gallstone ileus as a cause of upper intestinal obstruction and discuss its diagnosis and treatment.

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Autotransfusion is being increasingly used to avoid the complications of homologous blood transfusion. In abdominal trauma, however, the collected blood may be contaminated by intestinal contents when digestive or urinary lesions are present. In such situations, the reinfusion of blood is contraindicated. We present our experience with autotransfusion of blood collected by laparoscopy from the abdominal cavity of 21 trauma patients. Laparoscopy allowed the aspiration of blood and, at the same time, permitted diagnosis of visceral lesions, avoiding reinfusion of contaminated blood. No complications occurred, and hematocrit values were significantly elevated. This procedure may represent the only possible method of blood transfusion in Jehovah's Witnesses, as with one patient in our series.

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A lesäo traumática da vesícula e trato biliar extra-hepático é pouco freqüente e de difícil diagnóstico pré-operatório. OBJETIVO. Analisar, retrospectivamente, os pacientes com trauma abdominal operados em caráter de urgência no Pronto Socorro do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Säo Paulo, no período entre 1986 e 1991. MÉTODOS. Foram identificados 45 pacientes com lesäo da vesícula e trato extra-hepático e divididos em dois grupos: 12 pacientes com trauma abdominal fechado e 33 com trauma abdominal penetrante. Foram analisados, comparativamente, nos dois grupos: sexo, idade, índices de trauma, tratamento realizado, evoluçäo pós-operatória, lesöes associadas, incidência e mortalidade. RESULTADOS. A mortalidade global foi 24,4 por cento. Dentre as lesöes associadas, as hepáticas foram mais comuns (89 por cento dos pacientes). A incidência total foi 0,89 por cento dos pacientes com trauma abdominal (45/5.069). A incidência foi maior (1,25 por cento) nos pacientes com trauma abdominal penetrante (ee/2.650, em comparaçäo com 0,5 por cento decorrentes de trauma näo penetrante (12/2.419). CONCLUSAO. Os pacientes com trauma abdominal fechado apresentaram índicies de trauma estatisticamente diferentes daqueles com trauma penetrante e indicaram maior gravidade deste tipo de trauma. Isso fornece idéia de que existe correlaçäo entre intensidade do trauma e ocorrência de lesäo do trato biliar no trauma abdominal fechado. No trauma penetrante, a lesäo ocorre devido ao trajeto do elemento vulnerante e näo esté relacionado à intensidade do trauma. A mortalidade estatisticamente maior do primeiro grupo confirma esta idéia

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Mechanic intestinal obstruction, caused by the passage of biliary calculus from vesicle to intestine, through fistulization, although not frequent, deserve study due to the morbi-mortality rates. Incidence in elder people explains the association with chronic degenerative diseases, increasing complexity in terms of therapy decision. Literature discusses the need and opportunity for the one or two-phase surgical attack of the cholecyst-enteric fistule, in front of the resolution on the obstructive urgency and makes reference to Gallstone Ileus as an exception for strong intestinal obstruction. The more frequent intestinal obstruction observed is when it occurs a Gallstone Ileus impacting in terms of ileocecal valve. The authors submit a Gallstone Ileus manifestation as causing strong intestinal obstruction, discussing aspects regarding diagnostic and treatment.

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Injury of the extra-hepatic biliary tract is infrequent, occurring in approximately 3.5% of all patients with blunt and penetrating abdominal trauma. The incidence of this injury caused by blunt abdominal trauma is rare. PURPOSE--Retrospective analysis of 5069 patients with abdominal trauma treated at the Department of Surgery University of São Paulo School of Medicine over a six-year period from 1986 through 1991. METHODS--Forty five patients with gallbladder and extra-hepatic ducts injury were identified (0.89%) and divided in two groups according to the nature of trauma: 12 caused by non-penetrating injuries and 33 to penetrating injuries. Records, including operative and pathology reports, were reviewed to study the site of injury, associated intra-abdominal injuries, incidence, trauma scores, treatment, morbidity, mortality rates and correlated with the nature of the trauma. RESULTS--Overall mortality was 24.4%. The incidence was greater in patients sustaining penetrating abdominal trauma (p < 0.05). Forty of the 45 patients (88.9%) had liver lacerations, the most commonly seen injuries. The patients with blunt abdominal trauma had significant different trauma scores (p < 0.05) than those with penetrating trauma, indicating greater severity in this group of patients. CONCLUSION--There is a relation between severity of trauma and incidence of extra-hepatic biliary tract injury. However, in the penetrating trauma, the incidence of trauma is correlated with the direction of the wound and there is no relation with the severity of trauma. The greater mortality seen in the patients sustaining non-penetrating injury (p < 0.05) supports this observation.

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Gallbladder lesion is infrequent, occurring in approximately 0.5 to 8.5% of all patients with blunt and penetrating abdominal trauma. The incidence of gallbladder injury in such cases is low. This study reviewed 32 patients with gallbladder injury due to abdominal trauma over a 6-year period to determine the complications, associated injuries, and mortality rate.

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The emergency surgical treatment of severe hepatic traumas still carries a high mortality risk. We report a case of severe blunt trauma to the liver managed without surgery under CT guidance. This attitude requires haemodynamic stability of the patient, close monitoring in a surgical intensive care unit and repeated CT scans. Laparoscopy was used to the management of hemoperitoneum due to rupture of hematoma and diagnosis and treatment of bile leakage. Conservative treatment is a reasonable option in selected hemodynamically stable patient with severe hepatic trauma.

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Rupture of the diaphragm from blunt trauma is uncommon, but greatly improved prehospital care and transportation of victims has increased the frequency at which patients who sustain this injury arrive at the emergency room alive. We report a case of bilateral diaphragmatic rupture from blunt abdominal trauma in a 33-year old man. Diagnosis was established by laparoscopy after suggestive chest X-rays, liver scintigraphy, CT scan and magnetic resonance imaging. The methods used to diagnose this condition are analyzed.

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Gallbladder lesions by blunt abdominal trauma are rare, due to the organ's anatomical particularities. Diagnosis is difficult, and it generally occurs during surgery. The trauma is usually associated with other lesions and is related to very serious traumas or to deceleration. Due to the scarcity of publications on this topic and to its reduced incidence, we present here a report of five patients who had suffered blunt abdominal trauma with gallbladder lesion and who were attended at the General Hospital (of the University of São Paulo Medical School) Emergency Service between 1986 and 1991. Furthermore, we analyze the incidence of this trauma, presence of associated lesion, treatment, morbidity and mortality of the patients, as well as a review of the literature.

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The authors present a prospective study of 159 diagnostic laparoscopy performed in patients about whom doubts existed about the actual visceral involvement after initial clinical and laboratory examination by the Surgical Staff on duty. Patients whose initial diagnosis was easily made were immediately submitted to surgery and were not examined by laparoscopy. The laparoscopic exam was shown to be able to diagnose a large number of acute intra-abdominal disturbances, whether or not traumatic, and to be efficient, with accuracy values of 97.4%. The exam also allowed to avoid 44.6% to unnecessary surgical procedures on patients with suspected non-traumatic acute abdomen, and 70% among those with suspicion of traumatic acute abdomen.

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The authors performed 20 laparoscopies in patients previously submitted to abdominal surgery, in whom after clinical evaluation by the medical staff, the existence of intra-abdominal affection was still questioned. In this study group 14 patients exhibited more than 19 days old former abdominal incisions while in six patients they were recent ones. The incisions were median and para-median, McBurney incisions and Pfannenstiel incisions; one patient had been previously submitted to laparoscopy. The laparoscopic findings were hemoperitoneum, encapsulating peritonitis, ascites, subphrenic abscess, acute adnexitis, acute traumatic pancreatitis, genital tuberculosis, acute cholecystitis and one case of peritonitis due to a hollow viscus perforation by a fish bone. In one patient presenting encapsulating peritonitis the laparoscopic examination was complicated by a hollow viscus perforation.

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Patients with traumatic or non-traumatic acute abdomen, often exhibit difficulties in the assessment of the real intra-abdominal visceral compromise. This study intends to compare laparoscopy and ultrasonography in patients with non-traumatic or traumatic acute abdomen, in whom there is a doubt on the actual visceral compromise. Forty-five patients were studied in this protocol. Both procedures were performed in 28 and in 17 patients with non-traumatic or traumatic acute abdomen, respectively. The laparoscopic examination was shown to be superior to the ultrasound even when one subtracts from the ultrasound data all pathologies that involved bowel transit and the bowel wall such as the acute appendicitis and cases of pelvic inflammatory disease. The laparoscopic and ultrasound accuracy were 97.8% and 53%, respectively.

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Laparoscopy was performed in 49 patients admitted to the Emergency Service of Hospital das Clínicas of the Medical School of the University of São Paulo with a possible diagnosis of acute non traumatic abdomen. The procedure was indicated because routine clinical and laboratory investigations had proved inconclusive. Accuracy (96%), sensitivity (97.5%), specificity (89%) and positive (97.5%) and negative (89%) predictive values of laparoscopy were assessed in 41 patients with a clinical suspicion of inflammatory acute abdomen, in 5 with a clinical diagnosis of vascular abdomen, in 1 with a perforative acute abdomen, and in 2 patients to assess the viability of the small bowel after and intestinal resection due to mesenteric ischemia. Laparoscopy proved to be a reliable and simple procedure which facilitated the choice of the best therapeutic alternative in each case. A significant number of unnecessary laparotomies was avoided. No complications imputable to laparoscopy were observed in this series.

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