A review of the current status of robotic surgery use in paediatrics.

A toddler presented with melaena on a background of a possible enteric duplication cyst, diagnosed in the neonatal period which ‘vanished’. What was later confirmed to be a small bowel duplication cyst was not seen on follow-up ultrasounds and thus the patient was managed expectantly until presentation as an emergency. Our case highlights the challenges faced in managing cystic abdominal structures in infancy and the potential consequences of expectant management. We discuss whether cross-sectional imaging or diagnostic laparoscopy should be advocated when duplications cysts are considered amongst the differentials of a lesion on ultrasound.

Non-typhoidal Salmonella spp.are Gram-negative bacilli, which typically cause a clinical picture of gastroenteritis and, less commonly, patients may become a chronic carrier of the pathogen within their gallbladder. We describe a rare clinical presentation of a non-typhoidal Salmonella spp. infection as acute calculus cholecystitis in an adult patient. Salmonella enterica subsp. Salamae (ST P4271) was grown from cholecystostomy fluid, and the patient subsequently underwent a laparoscopic cholecystectomy that demonstrated a necrotic gallbladder fundus. We advise that microbiological sampling of bile is essential, especially in the context of foreign travel, to detect unusual pathogens as in this case or common pathogens that may have unusual antimicrobial resistance. Given the necrotic gallbladder as in this case, we also advise that early cholecystectomy should be strongly considered in these patients.

No abstract