INTRODUCTION The use of laparoscopy as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool is being used increasingly in the emergency setting with many of these procedures being performed by trainees. While the incidence of iatrogenic injuries is reported to be low, we present six emergency or expedited cases in which the bladder was perforated by the suprapubic trocar. CASES Three cases were related to the management of appendicitis, two to negative diagnostic laparoscopies for lower abdominal pain and one to an ectopic pregnancy. Management of the bladder injuries varied from a urinary catheter alone to laparotomy with debridement of the abdominal wall due to sepsis and later reconstruction. Four of the six cases were performed by registrars. CONCLUSIONS Although the incidence of bladder injury is low, its importance is highlighted by the large number of laparoscopies being performed. In addition to catheterisation of the patient, care must be taken with the insertion of low suprapubic ports and consideration should be made regarding alternative sites. Adequate laparoscopic supervision and training in port site planning is required for surgical trainees.

Cases of patients developing lymphoma and cutaneous neoplasms after long-term methotrexate therapy are well documented in the literature; however, there are no reported cases of other neoplasms resulting from methotrexate therapy. A 52-year-old woman who had been on methotrexate for 9 years for psoriatic arthritis was found to have abnormal liver function tests on screening. Investigation with ultrasound, CT scanning and MRCP showed a hilar cholangiocarcinoma and a synchronous right renal tumour. A left hemi-hepatectomy extended to segments 5 and 8 with the formation of a hepaticojejunostomy was performed for a poorly differentiated infiltrative hilar cholangiocarcinoma. This was combined with a right radical nephrectomy for a T1 renal cell adenocarcinoma. Postoperative vomiting was subsequently found to be due to hypercalcaemia and primary hyperparathyroidism. A parathyroid adenoma was later excised. It seems likely that treatment with methotrexate was causal in the development of these three non-cutaneous neoplasms-two malignant and one benign.

Previous studies using numerous chemotherapy regimes have not significantly altered the outcome of pancreatic cancer. To the best of our knowledge this is the longest surviving case of a patient with advanced metastatic adenocarcinoma (stage IV) of the pancreas treated with chemotherapy.