Introduction: There are two predominant approaches to chronic pancreatitis: ductal decompression and pancreatic resection. At our institution, we have adopted a hybrid approach of preoperative endoscopic pancreatic duct stenting (PDS) with subsequent partial pancreatectomy in persistently symptomatic patients. Therapeutic PDS for chronic pancreatitis is less invasive but, felt to be less efficacious than surgical approaches. […]
BackgroundBasic laparoscopic surgical skills and procedural skills training on virtual trainers have become an integral part of a good surgical residency program. However, a standardized curriculum on the VR trainer is missing. Moreover, the literature supports the fact that the skills training on LapMentor has construct and face validity, but there are no data on […]
Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of gallbladder perforation in a VA patient population presenting with acute cholecystitis and evaluate the impact of multiple risk factors including BMI on the risk of perforation. Methods: This is a retrospective study of patients identified by a computer database (CPRS) undergoing cholecystectomy between […]
Introduction: With the growing number of fellowship positions, the impact of surgical fellows is increasingly important. One might expect cases assisted by fellows, as compared with residents, to have lower complication rates considering fellows have completed more years of training, have potentially improved technical abilities and are receiving specialized training. On the other hand, cases […]
Introduction: Studies evaluating the effectiveness of Laparoscopic Nissen Fundoplication (LNF) in morbidly obese patients have yielded mixed results. Many authors now advocat Laparoscopic RYGB as the surgical treatment of choice for morbidly obese patients with GERD as it has the advantage of treating the GERD as well as the common obesity-related comorbid conditions. The purpose […]