Optimal management and better outcome of pancreaticoduodenal injuries seem to be associated with shorter operative time, and with simple and fast damage control surgery (DCS), in contrast to definitive surgical procedures.

The majority of patients with acute appendicitis can be successfully managed with laparoscopy. We found that the only preoperative independent factor related to conversion during laparoscopic appendectomy is the presence of comorbidities. Nevertheless surgeons should take into account that presence of peri-appendicular abscess and diffuse peritonitis are both independently related not only to higher rate of conversion but also to higher risk of postoperative complication.

Foreign bodies are rare causes of appendicitis and, in most cases, ingested foreign bodies pass through the alimentary tract asymptomatically. However, ingested foreign bodies may sometimes remain silent within the appendix for many years without an inflammatory response. Despite the fact that cases of foreign-body-induced appendicitis have been documented, sharp and pointed objects are more likely to cause perforations and abscesses, and present more rapidly after ingestion. Various materials, such as needles and drill bits, as well as organic matter, such as seeds, have been implicated as causes of acute appendicitis. Clinical presentation can vary from hours to years. Blunt foreign bodies are more likely to remain dormant for longer periods and cause appendicitis through obstruction of the appendiceal lumen. We herein describe a patient presenting with a foreign body in his appendix which had been swallowed 15 years previously. The contrast between the large size of the foreign body, the long clinical history without symptoms and the total absence of any histological inflammation was notable. We suggest that an elective laparoscopic appendectomy should be offered to such patients as a possible management option.

We conducted a systematic review of the literature on the electronic databases Medline, Embase, Ovid and Cochrane to identify studies from 1990 to 2011 regarding the surgical management of non-parasitic liver cysts treated with laparoscopy (LT) and/or laparotomy (OT) to identify short-term and long-term outcomes of the relative treatments. Two reviewers independently extracted data regarding the following parameters: first author, year of publication, type of journal, study design, number of patients operated on, male/female ratio, mean age, mean size of the cysts treated, laparoscopic conversion rate, morbidity, mortality and recurrence in both groups (LT and OT). A qualitative analysis was carried out using the Pearson Chi square test and the Fischer's exact test where necessary. The data analysis was conducted by dividing the sample into three periods in relation to the development of laparoscopic surgery: period 1 (P1), 1990-1995 "pioneering" period of laparoscopy; period 2 (P2), 1996-2000 period of the "development of laparoscopy"; period 3 (P3), 2001-2011 period of "diffusion of laparoscopy." Thirty studies involving 948 patients comparing LT with OT were included in the final pooled analysis. Twenty-two studies were retrospective (73.3 %) and only 8 (26.7 %) were prospective. The number of publications increased during the three periods analysed. The correlation between the type of journal and the year of publication showed an increase (p = 0.048) in journals dedicated to LT during the three periods. In P1, the preferred approach was open surgery (66.3 %) with only 11 cases treated with LT. The conversion rate was 18.1 %. The overall complication rate was 33.3 % with a substantial equivalence between the two approaches (27.2 % for laparoscopic surgery and 36.6 % for laparotomic). The overall recurrence rate was 18.1 % with 36.3 % in the laparoscopic group and 9.2 % in the laparotomic group. In P2, the preferred approach was laparoscopic (56.7 %). The conversion rate was 2.3 %. The overall complication rate was 5.8 % but with some differences between the two approaches (10.3 % for the laparoscopic approach and 0 % for open surgery). The overall recurrence rate was 14.4 % with 17.4 % in the laparoscopic group and 10.4 % in the laparotomic group. In P3, the preferred approach was laparoscopic (69.9 %). The overall recurrence rate was 11.1 %; it was 6.1 % for the laparoscopic approach while it was 11.5 % for laparotomic. In all three periods analysed, the laparoscopic approach showed a statistically significant reduction in operative time (p = 0.009) and hospital stay (p = 0.001) and a significant (p < 0.05) reduction rate in symptomatic recurrences in patients with polycystic liver disease (25 %) as compared with simple liver cysts (7.5 %). The current data in the literature show that the laparoscopic approach may be the treatment of choice in patients with symptomatic non-parasitic cysts of the liver, providing the short-term advantages of minimally invasive surgery. Recurrence rates were acceptable and comp...