Category Archives: General Surgery

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.

General Surgery, Print Release, Trauma

PUBLISHED: Extended Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma (EFAST) Exam

Extended Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma (EFAST) Exam
UChicago Medicine

Daven Patel, MD, MPH
Resident Physician
Emergency Medicine

Kristin Lewis, MD, MA
Resident Physician
Emergency Medicine

Allyson Peterson, MD
Resident Physician
Emergency Medicine

Nadim Michael Hafez, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Emergency Medicine

This video covers information related to the FAST exam, which evaluates the pericardial, hepatorenal, splenorenal, and suprapubic regions for free fluid in a trauma patient as well as the extended version, which includes an additional evaluation of the pleural spaces for a pneumothorax. It goes through probe selection, probe placement and image acquisition, image optimization, and pitfalls and pearls for the subxiphoid/subcostal, right upper quadrant, left upper quadrant, suprapubic, and pleural views.

General Surgery, Preprint Release, Trauma

PREPRINT RELEASE: Airway Equipment

Airway Equipment

Nicholas Ludmer, MD
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
UChicago Medicine

Abdullah Hasan Pratt, MD
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
UChicago Medicine

Stephen Estime, MD
Assistant Professor of Anesthesia and Trauma Critical Care
UChicago Medicine

In this video, Dr. Ludmer at UChicago Medicine describes the airway equipment that they have available for when a patient has an airway problem.

General Surgery, Preprint Release, Trauma

PREPRINT RELEASE: Airway Assessment for Trauma Patient

Airway Assessment for Trauma Patient

Nicholas Ludmer, MD
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
UChicago Medicine

Abdullah Hasan Pratt, MD
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
UChicago Medicine

Stephen Estime, MD
Assistant Professor of Anesthesia and Trauma Critical Care
UChicago Medicine

In this video, Dr. Ludmer at UChicago Medicine describes the airway assessment for a trauma patient.

General Surgery, Preprint Release

PREPRINT RELEASE: 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
General Surgery, Epic Care, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center

In this case, Dr. Rockson Liu 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.