Open surgery with common bile duct (CBD) exploration and T tube drainage are still traditionally performed in a large amount of selected patients with cholelithiasis and choledocholithiasis. Confirmation of CBD clearance via T tube cholangiography after surgery is a routine procedure before T tube removal. The present study aims at investigating potential risk factors associated with residual s...

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to compare a negative pressure drain with a natural drain in order to determine whether a negative pressure drainage tube causes an increase in the drainage volume. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixty-two patients who underwent total thyroidectomy for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) were enrolled in the study between March 2010 and August 2010 at Gyeongsang Nationa...

AIM OF THE STUDY This study aimed to evaluate the effect of percutaneous interventional treatment on obstructive jaundice caused by hepatocellular carcinoma with bile duct tumor thrombus. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 16 patients with bile duct tumor thrombus were included in the current retrospective study. All the patients were subjected to percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD...

BACKGROUND This study aimed to assess the clinical short-term results of a primary closure following laparoscopic common bile duct exploration (LCBDE) combined with intraoperative choledochoscopy and D-J tube drainage for choledocholithiasis treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS Twenty-five patients (14 women and 11 men) who underwent LCBDE with primary duct closure and D-J tube drainage for choledoc...

INTRODUCTION Pleural drainage with chest tube insertion for thoracic trauma is a common and often life-saving technique. Although considered a simple procedure, complication rates have been reported to be 2-25%. We conducted a prospective cohort observational study of emergency pleural drainage procedures to validate the indications for pre-hospital thoracostomy and to identify complications fr...

OBJECTIVE Residual air spaces on chest radiographs after pneumothorax surgery are not uncommon. We aimed to study their incidence and impact on surgical outcomes. METHODS Four hundred and twenty-seven patients [283 men and 144 women with a median age of 31 (14-96) years] underwent surgery for pneumothorax from 1995 to 2005 in a single unit. Video-assisted thoracoscopy was used in 225 cases (5...

PURPOSE Prolonged air or fluid chest tube drainage may delay chest tube removal in thoracic surgery patients otherwise ready for discharge. We reviewed 20 months of experience at our institution with postoperative, outpatient chest tube management using a new portable chest tube device. DESCRIPTION From May 2003 to December 2004, 457 major thoracic procedures were performed at our institution...

Glaucoma drainage implants are frequently used in children with severe forms of glaucoma, and tube extenders are sometimes required to compensate for ocular growth or when the intraocular portion of the tube is thought to be too short. We report 2 cases of spontaneous disconnection of a tube extender, occurring 8 months after insertion in one case and 3 years later in the other. In both cases t...