Background: We compared the differences in thermal damage at the surgical margin between monopolar cautery, bipolar cautery, and LigaSure™ in breast cancer lumpectomy specimens and assessed the effect of these techniques on the evaluation of the surgical margins. Methods: 30 patients scheduled for breast-conserving surgery for breast cancer were included in this study. During lumpectomy, each of the superior, inferior, lateral, and medial borders of the tumour was excised using one of the following: a scalpel, monopolar cautery, bipolar cautery, and LigaSure technology. The surgical margins of frozen and paraffin-embedded tissue sections of the lumpectomy specimen were evaluated. Thermal damage was defined as the maximum depth of thermal damage (in mm) from the surgical margin, and the level was categorized as none, low (≤1 mm), or high (>1 mm). Results: There was no statistically significant difference between monopolar cautery, bipolar cautery, and LigaSure in terms of thermal damage. There was no thermal damage at the surgical margin in tissues dissected by scalpel. Conclusion: Thermal damage due to the excision method may cause false-negative and false-positive results in the surgical margin evaluation of lumpectomy specimens. More research is needed on the effects of different energy modalities on surgical margin evaluation in breast-conserving surgery.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyse 13 patients who were treated in our clinic due to acute appendicitis during pregnancy. Methods: Records of the patients who received appendectomy with appendicitis diagnosis in our Turgut Özal University Research and Application Hospital between January 2007 and December 2015 have been analyzed retrospectively. Results: Appendectomies were performed on 13 pregnant patients with an acute appendicitis diagnosis. Average age of the patients was 27.69 years (between 22-37 years). Most frequent complaint of the patients was abdominal pain and most frequent examination finding was tenderness at right lower quadrant. Ultrasonography was used in all cases for diagnosis. Surgery was decided with clinical diagnosis for five cases (38.5%) where appendix had not been identified with ultrasonography. While laparoscopic appendectomy was applied in one case (7.7%) and open appendectomy was applied using a McBurney incision in 12 cases (92.3%). Average hospitalization duration was 1.69 days. All patients were tracked together through the Gynaecology Department for two weeks after they had been discharged from the hospital. Preterm delivery, maternal and fetal loss did not occur. Conclusion: It is considered appropriate to apply ultrasonography routinely to all pregnant patients in whom acute appendicitis is suspected. Concern for maternal or fetal complication that may occur in consequence of an unnecessary surgery should not be at a level that will delay surgical treatment needed by the patient.

BackgroundStump closure is an important stage of laparoscopic appendectomy. This study aimed to establish whether the handmade endoloop or polymeric endoclip method was more effective for stump closure in laparoscopic appendectomy. MethodsThe study included 76 patients who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy between October 2017 and January 2019. Patients' demographic characteristics, duration of surgery, length of hospital stay, and any complications were retrospectively recorded from files. Patients were divided into two groups according to stump closure method as polymeric endoclip and handmade endoloop. ResultsAmong the patients, 59.2% (n = 45) were male and 40.8% (n = 31) were female. For stump closure, the polymeric endoclip method was used in 37 patients (48.7%) and the handmade endoloop method in 39 patients (51.3%). The two groups were not significantly different in terms of age and appendix diameter ( p=0.408, p=0.218). A total of four patients (5.3%) developed wound infection, including three from the handmade endoloop group and one from the polymeric endoclip group. One patient (1.3%) in the polymeric endoclip group developed ileus. The two groups were also not significantly different in terms of complications (p = 1.000). ConclusionWe conclude that both stump closure methods are safe, and the more easily accessible handmade endoloop method can be performed reliably in all hospitals, including secondary healthcare facilities such as small hospitals.

Bu çalışma 2-4 Mayıs 2019 tarihinde Rize'de düzenlenen Uluslararası Adalet Kongresi'nde sunulan bildirinin genişletilmiş halidir.

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