The use of high voltage radiotheraphy in pelvi malignancies has led to a common complication which is radiation . proctitis. Treatment with rectal formalin is simple and effective and can be done as a day care procedure. The use of formalin dab was assessed as a day care procedure in our surgical unit in which ten patients were prospectively evaluated. Outcome of these patients was encouraging.
AIM: The role of laparoscopy in staging of gastric cancer is widely accepted; however, in Malaysia its usage has been limited. Patients can be classified as resectable or unresectable, which helps in avoiding an unwanted laparotomy and the morbidities associated with it. The aim of this study was to assess the value of laparoscopy in staging of gastric cancer in comparison with CT scan.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with carcinoma of the stomach after a complete preoperative work-up underwent laparoscopy prior to surgical exploration. TNM staging was used to compare laparoscopy with CT, with the histopathological report used as the gold standard.
RESULTS: Forty cases were included in this study. The sensitivity of laparoscopy for T3 tumours appears to be significant when compared to that of CT. Laparoscopy detected 90.3% of the cases as against the 58% detected with CT. There was not much difference in the N factor. With regard to M factor, the sensitivity was 100% for laparoscopy in comparison with CT.
CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopy has been shown to be sensitive in detecting metastasis in gastric cancer in comparison to CT, thus helping in avoiding unwanted laparotomy and thus providing a more systemic approach in managing gastric cancers.
KEYWORDS: Gastric cancer; laparoscopic staging
Stomach and esophageal cancers are both deadly and difficult to diagnose early. Stomach cancer is the second most common cancer in Asia. Both these are one of the most common causes of cancer related death in the world.
A young boy presented with history of abdominal trauma. History and initial clinical findings suggested a soft tissue injury. Due to increasing abdominal pain and fever, we proceeded with an exploratory laparotomy with a diagnosis of intra-abdominal injury, at which we found a perforated appendix. Appendicitis following blunt abdominal trauma needs high index of suspicion.