Over the past few decades, robotic surgery has developed from a futuristic dream to a real, widely used technology. Today, robotic platforms are used for a range of procedures and have added a new facet to the development and implementation of minimally invasive surgeries. The potential advantages are enormous, but the current progress is impeded by high costs and limited technology. However, r...

Surgery has five unique characteristics that set it apart from any other medical specialty 1. Surgery harms before it heals 2. It penetrates the patient ́s body and thus is highly invasive. According to the judgement of Judge Benjamin Cardozo in Schloendorff v Society of New York Hospitals (1914): “a surgeon who performs an operation without patient ́s consent commits an assault” 3. It is fallibl...

BACKGROUND The success of laparoscopic biliary surgery has encouraged application of laparoscopic surgery in colorectal disease. There are some questions regarding laparoscopic colorectal surgery, especially for colorectal cancer. Most important is whether adequate resection of colorectal malignancy can be achieved. A retrospective study was performed to evaluate the pathology of resected speci...

Materials and methods From November 2005 to July 2008 we prospectively collected data from patients who underwent colorectal resection. The study group comprised 264 patients, divided in two groups according to age under 70 (group A) or over 70 years (group B). We analyzed comorbidities and ASA score; type of surgical procedure and diagnosis; surgical contamination wound class, incidence of SSI...

BACKGROUND Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) is a multimodal evidence-based approach to patient care that has become the standard in elective colorectal surgery. Implemented globally, ERAS programmes represent a considerable change in practice for many surgical care providers. Our current understanding of specific implementation and sustainability challenges is limited. In January 2013, we...

OBJECTIVES We examined the role of discharge instructions in postoperative recovery for patients undergoing colorectal surgery and report themes related to patient perceptions of discharge instructions and postdischarge experience. DESIGN Semistructured interviews were conducted as part of a formative evaluation of a Project Re-Engineered Discharge intervention adapted for surgical patients. ...

BACKGROUND Colorectal surgery implies higher risk of postoperative thromboembolic complications as deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) than general surgery. The best prophylaxis in general surgery is heparin and graded compression stockings. No systematic review on combination prophylaxis or on thrombosis prophylaxis in colorectal surgery has been published. OBJECTIVES To...

The 1st POQI Consensus Conference occurred in Durham, NC, on March 4-5, 2016, and was supported by the American Society of Enhanced Recovery (ASER) and Evidence-Based Perioperative Medicine (EBPOM). The conference focused on enhanced recovery for colorectal surgery and discussed four topics-perioperative analgesia, perioperative fluid management, preventing nosocomial infection, and measurement...

The reduction in health-care expenditures and more efficient use of medical resources are now overriding health policy priorities with the two-pronged goal of improving patient outcomes while decreasing overall cost. Current reports show colorectal surgery accounting for 25% of all operative complications and an average length of stay of 8 to 12 days for a standard elective colon resection. To ...