The most frequent abdominal pathology requiring emergent surgery is acute appendicitis. Laparoscopic appendectomy has been performed for the treatment of acute appendicitis since 1983. Closure of the appendix stump is vital to prevent severe postoperative complications. Different methods are described for closure such as stapler, endoloop, titanium clips, non-absorbable polymer clips (hem-o-lok clip), handmade loops, transsection by Ligasure or with bipolar cautery. The ideal method should be safe, applicable and cheap. The most appropriate method remains to be controversial. All methods are reported as safe, but some have higher costs, and some prolong the operation. In this article, we reviewed clinical and experimental studies on different methods of stump closure, and we tried to compare the benefit of these methods over others. Keywords INTRODUCTIONThe most common acute abdominal pathology requiring emergency surgery is appendicitis. Open appendectomy is the standard approach for treatment. Semm first defined laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) in 1983 as an alternative approach to open surgery (1). This method has been popularized and recommended as first choice treatment in especially women, the elderly and obese patients (2). Along with reported advantages such as less pain, earlier return to work, better cosmetic results, and shorter hospitalization of LA as compared to open appendectomy, there are negative issues such as high cost, long operation time and the high rate of intra-abdominal abscess (3-5).

Objective: A dissertation is a scientific document. However, if it is not published in a scientific journal, it will gain access to only a limited audience and thus will be unable to achieve its objective. Nevertheless, the rate of publishing in journals is not high among dissertations. In this study, we aimed to investigate the publishing rates of general surgery dissertations in journals and the total number of citations. Material and Methods:All medical dissertations that have been prepared at general surgery departments of university hospitals and presented between the years 2006 and 2008 were analyzed. The authors checked whether the dissertations were published in a journal or not, by searching the dissertation in 4 different resources with the name of their authors.Results: Two hundred and thirty-two dissertations were included. Half of those dissertations were experimental animal studies. Seventy dissertations were published in various journals. Fifty one (22%) of these were published in Science Citation Index Expanded journals, while 19 (8.1%) of them were published in Turkish non-Science Citation Index Expanded journals. There was no significant difference in terms of publishing rates between study types. The number of annual citations per article was 1.1. The writer of the dissertation was the first author in 35 (68,6%) articles. Conclusion:The publishing rates of dissertations in general surgery is low, with only 22% being published in Science Citation Index Expanded journals. The citation rate was also detected to be low in our study. Consequently, a dissertation should be considered as a scientific research study and planned as such, not as obligatory assignments. The publishing rates of dissertations should be increased, and authors should be led and encouraged to publish their dissertations.

Objective: Sentinel lymph node biopsy is the recommended approach in the evaluation of axilla during breast cancer surgery. In this study, results of patients who underwent methylene blue sentinel lymph node biopsy were evaluated. Materials and Methods:The study included 32 female patients with T1 and T2 tumors. 5 ml of 1% methylene blue was injected into the peritumoral area or around the cavity. The axillary sentinel lymph node was found and removed, and then axillary dissection was performed. The sentinel lymph node and axillary dissection specimen were histopathologically examined and the results were compared. Results:The sentinel lymph node was found in 30 (94%) patients. Lymph node metastasis was not observed in 17 patients in both the sentinel lymph node and axilla. Two patients had metastasis in the axilla although this was not detected in sentinel lymph node. Eleven patients had metastasis both in the sentinel lymph node and in the axilla . The accuracy rate was 93%, and the false negativity rate was identified as 15%. Conclusion:Sentinel lymph node biopsy by methylene blue is a method that can be applied with high accuracy. Methylene blue can be considered as an alternative to isosulphane blue in sentinel lymph node biopsy.

IntroductionAcute appendicitis is the most common abdominal pathology requiring emergent surgical procedure. For treatment, laparoscopic surgery is commonly performed. For appendix stump closure different procedures are used.AimEvaluation of the results of patients in whom the stump of the appendix was closed with a hand-made loop during laparoscopic appendectomy (LA).Material and methodsPatients in whom the stump of the appendix was closed with a hand-made loop during LA were included in the study. Reports of patients were collected from patient files retrospectively. Laparoscopic appendectomy was applied through 3 ports. Two loops were placed in the stump of the appendix. Loop was a modification of the Roeder loop that has been described in the literature and has been shown to be safe.ResultsSixty-one patients were included in the study. Twenty-four of them (39%) were female, 37 of them (61%) were male. The age range is from 13 to 60 (average age is 30) years. During the postoperative period, one surgical wound infection and two intraabdominal abscesses were detected. There was no leakage from the stump of the appendix in any patients.ConclusionsOne of the most important components of cost of LA is the technique of closure of the stump. Stapler, endoloop, various clips or a hand-made loop could be used for closure. We recommend using a hand-made loop for closure as an easy, safe and cheap method.

Objective: The citation number of an article gives us information about its quality and contribution to science. In this article, we aimed to find the most frequently cited article in general surgery from Turkey, and evaluate how these articles in general surgery contributed to the world literature. Material and Methods:We used the science citation index expanded database to find the most frequently cited articles in general surgery from Turkey.Results: Among the 52 articles found, the most common subjects were as follows: hydatid cyst (21.1%), pilonidal disease (15.4%), laparoscopic operations (15.4%), breast diseases (11.5%), and inguinal hernia (7.7%). Two articles were cited in more than 100 articles. Furthermore, 48.8% of the articles were published from three major cities. Most articles were published between 2000 and 2004, and 65.4% of articles were case series. Conclusion:Most of the cited articles were about hydatid cyst and pilonidal disease, which are more common in the Turkish population compared with other countries. Evaluation of most cited articles is important to identify the fields in which Turkey contributes to the world literature.