The key causes of mortality today include cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases, cancer and diabetes. Figure 1, from the World Health Organisation’s Global Burden of Disease Report (World Health Organisation [WHO], 2006), illustrates the proportion of deaths due to the major causes. When these statistics are taken together with the age at death data as shown in Figure 2 (WHO, 2006) it can...

We present the case of a 54-year-old female with longstanding history of myasthenia gravis, on whom an anti ACH antibody test was positive. We performed a minimally invasive video-assisted thoracoscopic thymectomy (VATS) on this patient. Preoperatively, the patient was stabilized with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and Mestinon (Pyridostigmine). The pre-operative workup included a computed t...

Pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) was introduced almost 40 years ago. 1 In the 1980s and 1990s, three-port PPV with 20-gauge (G) instruments was the norm. In 2002, 25-gauge transconjunctival sutureless vitrectomy (TSV) was introduced.2,3 This system permits threeport PPV using microcannulas, trocars, and 25-G instrumentation without requiring sutures to close the sclerotomies. Subsequently, a similar...

I recent decades, an increasing number of spinal surgical approaches and techniques have been developed that limit approach-related morbidity to the paraspinal musculature (44,60). Minimally invasive spine (MIS) surgery encompasses a variety of techniques designed to improve perioperative measures (e.g. blood loss, postoperative pain narcotic usage, recovery time) and longterm functional outcom...

Describe the most common techniques used for minimally invasive hip surgery. Certainly the most commonly described approaches in the literature are the posterior and direct anterior. The posterior approach is essentially the same as what surgeons have done traditionally but with a shorter incision and less dissection of the deep musculature. The 2-incision approach, which I prefer, has fallen o...

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS), or laparoscopic surgery, plays a vital role in residency training in a number of surgical disciplines including general surgery, surgical oncology, colorectal surgery, pediatric surgery, and thoracic surgery. The tremendous patient demand for MIS over the past 2 decades has resulted in surgeons rapidly embracing this technique. Many general surgery residencies ...

With new therapies and interventions in the ischemic stroke realm leading to improved outcomes, attention is turning to treatment of hemorrhagic stroke therapies that strive to improve both morbidity and mortality. The thought that “time is brain” likely also applies to damage to neural structures neighboring hemorrhagic clots and efforts to create a method for hemorrhagic clot evacuation while...

During the last 20 years minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has replaced many open, conventional operations and is now important in almost every facet of abdominal surgery (Harrell & Beniford, 2005). Benefits regarding postoperative pain, convalescence, return to normal activities, and cosmetic results have been proven for a wide range of MIS procedures. Within the field of transplantation, lapar...

T morbidity of surgical approaches in Scoliosis are also decreasing with the technological advances for improving surgical procedures similar to every field of surgery. Incapacitating spinal deformities were previously inevitable or possible with challenges at high surgical risks. During the time, evolvings in the implant industry with supports of visual and navigation technologies easened furt...