Category Archives: General Surgery

General Surgery, Ob/Gyn, Print Release, Uncategorized

PUBLISHED: Laparoscopic Suture Rectopexy with Culdoplasty, Vaginal Wall Repair, and Perineorrhaphy for Rectal Prolapse

Laparoscopic Suture Rectopexy with Culdoplasty, Vaginal Wall Repair, and Perineorrhaphy for Rectal Prolapse

Marcus V. Ortega, MD;Emily C. Von Bargen, DO; Liliana Bordeianou, MD

Massachusetts General Hospital

This is the case of an 87-year-old female who presented with a history of constipation and bothersome rectal prolapse that required manual rectal prolapse reduction. She had minimal constipation and minimal incontinence, and anorectal manometry revealed low rectal pressures. On exam, she was found to have full-thickness rectal prolapse and stage II posterior vaginal wall pelvic organ prolapse. Gynecological POP-Q exam showed mostly posterior prolapse and some apical prolapse, and urodynamic testing was negative. Defacography revealed an enterocele. Here, Dr. Bordeianou and Dr. Von Bargen at MGH discuss the decision-making process when treating rectal prolapse and perform a laparoscopic suture rectopexy with culdoplasty, vaginal wall repair, and perineorrhaphy with levator plication.

General Surgery, Pediatrics, Plastic Surgery, Print Release

PUBLISHED: Bilateral Dorsal Foot Scar Contracture Release with Split-Thickness Skin Grafts from the Anterior Thigh

Bilateral Dorsal Foot Scar Contracture Release with Split-Thickness Skin Grafts from the Anterior Thigh

Jonah Poster
Shriners Hospitals for Children – Boston

Jonathan Friedstat, MD
Shriners Hospitals for Children – Boston
Massachusetts General Hospital

Burn scar contracture of the dorsal foot causes metatarsophalangeal joint hyperextension and interphalangeal joint hyperextension. In children, these issues only intensify over time as a child grows. Here, Dr. Friedstat at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Boston presents the case of a young boy who suffered a 32% total body surface area flame burn to his lower back, bilateral buttocks, legs, and feet. This patient had previously undergone a bilateral contracture release of the dorsum of the foot. Because the contractures recurred, another bilateral dorsal foot scar contracture release was performed using a split-thickness 1:1 meshed skin graft harvested from the anterior left thigh.

General Surgery, Print Release

PUBLISHED: Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM) for Achalasia

Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM) for Achalasia

Daniel Hashimoto; Ozanan R Meireles, MD; David Rattner, MD
Massachusetts General Hospital

Impaired transit of food and liquid from the esophagus to the stomach results in symptoms of dysphagia, regurgitation, retrosternal fullness/pain, and weight loss. Symptoms can be managed with a range of medical or procedural therapy. However, the best results are obtained from surgical management with myotomy. Here, Drs. Rattner, Meireles, and Hashimoto at MGH perform and demonstrate a peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM), which emerged as a less invasive manner through which to perform a myotomy and provides relief of dysphagia comparable to laparoscopic Heller myotomy – the current standard of surgical therapy for achalasia.

General Surgery, Otolaryngology, Print Release

PUBLISHED: Minimally Invasive Parathyroidectomy Under Local Cervical Block Anesthesia for Primary Hyperparathyroidism and Parathyroid Adenoma

Minimally Invasive Parathyroidectomy Under Local Cervical Block Anesthesia for Primary Hyperparathyroidism and Parathyroid Adenoma

Tobias Carling, MD, PhD, FACS
Yale School of Medicine

With improvement in both preoperative parathyroid tumor identification and the use of intraoperative parathyroid hormone assay, minimally invasive parathyroidectomy (MIP) is now performed more frequently in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT). Still, many institutions are not familiar with performing MIP under regional or local anesthesia. Here, Dr. Tobias Carling presents an MIP performed under local cervical block anesthesia on a patient with pHPT and parathryoid adenoma.

General Surgery, Print Release

PUBLISHED: Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Naomi Sell, MD, MHS
Massachusetts General Hospital

Denise W. Gee, MD
Operating Surgeon, MGH

The patient in this case is a 32-year-old female with recurrent episodes of biliary colic. An ultrasound revealed numerous gallstones within the gallbladder. Because the patient has had recurrent symptoms for the past six months, surgical removal of her gallbladder was the best option to relieve her recurrent pain and prevent future development of acute cholecystitis. Here, Dr. Denise Gee at Massachusetts General Hospital performs a laparoscopic cholecystectomy to remove the patient’s gallbladder.

General Surgery, Print Release

PUBLISHED: Ileostomy Reversal for a Two-Stage Laparoscopic Proctocolectomy with Ileoanal J-Pouch for Ulcerative Colitis

Ileostomy Reversal for a Two-Stage Laparoscopic Proctocolectomy with Ileoanal J-Pouch for Ulcerative Colitis

Derek J. Erstad, MD
Massachusetts General Hospital

Richard Hodin, MD
Chief, Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital

The patient in this case is a 29-year-old female who had a long history of medically refractory ulcerative colitis. Three months previously, she had undergone a laparoscopic proctocolectomy with ileoanal J-pouch reconstruction and loop ileostomy. Here, Dr. Richard Hodin at MGH reverses the ileostomy.

General Surgery, Otolaryngology, Print Release

PUBLISHED: Trans-Oral Endoscopic Thyroidectomy Vestibular Approach (TOETVA)

Trans-Oral Endoscopic Thyroidectomy Vestibular Approach (TOETVA)
Yale School of Medicine

Courtney Gibson, MD, MS, FACS
Assistant Professor of Endocrine Surgery
Yale School of Medicine

Tobias Carling, MD, PhD, FACS
Chief of Endocrine Surgery
Yale School of Medicine

In this case, Dr. Tobias Carling and Dr. Courtney Gibson at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven perform a TOETVA on a 45-year-old patient who presented with a growing thyroid nodule that was shown to be a Hurthle cell neoplasm on fine-needle aspiration.

Numerous minimally-invasive approaches to thyroidectomy have been developed over the years to minimize the neck surgical scar, many of which are performed using endoscopic or robotic assistance. However, a more diminutive anterior cervical scar still remains a problem for some patients, as well as more extensive dissections for remote access operations. Therefore, natural orifice surgery was adopted at select institutions in an effort to perform a truly scarless thyroidectomy. Trans-oral endoscopic thyroidectomy has been the latest approach developed, known as the natural orifice transluminal endoscopic thyroidectomy, which is categorized as a natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) procedure. There are several ways to perform the natural orifice transluminal endoscopic thyroidectomy. Here, the authors present the TOETVA under general anesthesia.

General Surgery, Print Release

PUBLISHED: Robotic eTEP Retrorectus Rives-Stoppa Repair for Ventral Hernia

Robotic eTEP Retrorectus Rives-Stoppa Repair for Ventral Hernia
Alta Bates Summit Medical Center

Rockson C. Liu, MD, FACS

In this case, Dr. Rockson Liu with Epic Care at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center performs a robotic eTEP retrorectus Rives-Stoppa repair of an upper midline primary ventral hernia that was partially reducible but mostly incarcerated, and greater than 6 cm in a 63-year-old female. Robotic ports were placed directly into the retrorectus space. Using the crossover technique, the retrorectus spaces were combined with a preperitoneal bridge of the peritoneum. The defects were closed robotically, and a medium-weight, macroporous polypropylene mesh was placed within the retrorectus space.

General Surgery, Preprint Release, Transplant Surgery

Preprint Release: Recipient Kidney Transplant from a Living Donor

Recipient Kidney Transplant from a Living Donor
Massachusetts General Hospital

Maggie L. Westfal, MD, MPH
General Surgery Resident
Massachusetts General Hospital

Nahel Elias, MD, FACS
Transplant Surgery Department
Massachusetts General Hospital

The patient in this case is a 56-year-old female with a past medical history of type I diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypothyroidism, hyperlipidemia, and end stage renal disease secondary to diabetic and hypertensive nephropathies. In this video, Dr. Nahel Elias performs the recipient side of a living related kidney transplant from the patient’s sister.

General Surgery, Print Release

PUBLISHED: Bilateral Posterior Retroperitoneoscopic Adrenalectomy with Cortical Sparing on Right Side

Bilateral Posterior Retroperitoneoscopic Adrenalectomy with Cortical Sparing on Right Side
Yale School of Medicine

Taylor C Brown, MD, MHS
Yale School of Medicine

Tobias Carling, MD, PhD, FACS
Yale School of Medicine

Cortical-sparing adrenalectomy allows for the resection of adrenal tumors while preserving unaffected adrenal tissue to prevent adrenal insufficiency. This is especially important in patients with bilateral adrenal tumors, typically pheochromocytomas.

Posterior retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy (PRA) allows for a minimally invasive approach to adrenal gland resection compared with the more traditional laparoscopic transabdominal adrenalectomy and open approaches. This approach is ideal to address patients with bilateral disease and was used in this case of a 31-year-old female patient presenting with bilateral pheochromocytomas in the setting of multiple endocrine neoplasia 2A syndrome and coexisting medullary thyroid carcinoma of the right thyroid lobe. A close review of her imaging demonstrated normal-appearing adrenal cortex tissue on the right side that allowed for cortical-sparing adrenalectomy on that side.