We report on a new method of stent exchange using a threaded device that enables removal of the clogged stent while simultaneously maintaining the original pathway without withdrawing the endoscope. With this method stent replacement has become more reliable, safer, simpler and quicker. This technique is also suitable for removal of stents dislodged inside the duct.

Endoscopic placement of a naso-vesicular catheter was successful in 90% (45/50) of patients with cholecystolithiasis. The first 7 patients were treated by MTBE dissolution alone. Dissolution was discontinued after a maximum of 14 days, as only two patients were rendered stone free. In one patient, 3 tiny pigment stones were sucked out through the catheter, and in another inoperable patient a pigtail endoprosthesis was finally inserted into the gallbladder. In the remaining 36 patients, combined ESWL and MTBE dissolution therapy was carried out. Treatment was broken off by one patient after one week, and interrupted in another due to catheter dislodgement. After an average of 10 days with 1-9 ESWL sessions (average: 3) complete stone clearance was achieved in 60% (20/34) of patients. Fourteen of the patients who completed treatment, and the one with catheter dislodgement still have sludge in the gallbladder, which is being treated with oral bile acids. The procedure-related complication rate was 10% (3 pancreatitis, 1 cystic duct perforation and 1 guidewire impaction). The mortality rate was zero. There was no evident complication due to either ESWL or MTBE dissolution.

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From five patients of the Department of General Surgery of the University Hospital of Hamburg-Eppendorf, who underwent laparotomy because of different indications, small pieces of tissue of the greater omentum were taken intraoperatively. The surface morphology of the greater omentum was studied by means of light, transmission electron and scanning electron microscopy. It became obvious that intact tissue only was obtained when the procedure of taking out material was accomplished most carefully. Consequently, during normal surgical manipulations the greater omentum usually will be damaged. In undamaged tissue specimen the normal surface of the greater omentum in man is described. The findings basically confirm the results of previous investigations. Injuries at the surface of the greater omentum after surgical treatment are, however, much more severe than they are noticeable by the naked eye. Lifting up of the mesothelium, ruptures of the submesothelial structures of connective tissue, squashing of fat cells and ruptures of blood vessels can be observed. During these processes lipid droplets are squeezed into the submesothelial connective tissues or even pressed up to the surface of the mesothelium. Large quantities of erythrocytes are found in the interstitium in between the adipose cells. To what extent milky spots and free nerve endings at the surface of the greater omentum are damaged during intraoperative manipulations cannot be unequivocally estimated on the basis of the material studied here.

The Surface of the Greater Omentum and Its Vulnerability During Intra-Abdominal Operation Summary. The study deals with clinically relevant morphological structures of the greater omentum.The vulnerability of the mesothelioma during intraoperative mechanical traumatization is shown with light-microscopic and grid electron-microscopic pictures. Important damage to the parenchyma of the greater omentum happens through shoving off the mesothelial layer, rupture of connective tissue structures, and the crushing of fat cells. In this way, the fat mass is pressed into the interstice between the fat cells and into the submesothelial connective tissue. The first action area of the omentum seems to be the dorsal layer.