Objective To summarize the experiences in learning laparoscopic cholecystectomy （LC） and discuss young surgeons how to learn LC scientifically. Method The clinical data of 198 patients received LC by myself since I got the qualification of LC were analyzed retrospectively. Results LC was performed successfully in 187 patients with an average operation time of 68 min. Eleven patients were converted to laparotomy. In these 11 patients， 10 patients because of unclear anatomy in Calot triangle and 1 patient because of uncontrollable bleeding due to pathologic anatomy in Calot triangle caused by gallstone. All 198 patients did not suffer from complications such as severe hemorrhage or injury of biliary duct. Liquid therapy and antibiotics therapy were applied in patients with cholecystitis after LC. Food intake and ambulation were recovered at 12-24h after operation. All the patients were discharged from hospital with anaverage of 2.8d after LC. There was no complications related bile duct injury in all of the patients. Conclusion Managed by hierarchical operations management system， mastering regional physiological and variant anatomy， making use of other open cholecystectomy and laparoscopic simulative learning system well， complying with the learning curve， controlling the indications， contraindications and timing of conversion to laparotomy， young surgeons are able to master LC scientifically， safely， and solidly.
ObjectiveTo investigate how to shorten the learning curve of the laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD). MethodsClinical data of 5 patients who underwent the LPD in our hospital from May 2015 to November 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. ResultsThe mean age of 58.8 years old. There were four patients who were diagnosed with periampullary tumor, one patient was distal bile duct carcinoma. The median operative time was 588 min, the average blood loss was 290 mL, the time of feeding was 5 days, the mean hospital stay was 25 days. One case died of cardiovascular event on postoperative day 1. One patient had postoperative bleeding after LPD, who recovered smoothly after reoperation for hemostasis laparoscopiclly. Conciusions LPD needs basic learning curve. The key of this procedure are appropriate treatment of pancreatic head and digestive tract reconstruction. Rich operative experience of surgeon in pancreaticoduodenectomy, optimization of the operation process, skilled in laparoscopic procedures, appropriate cases, appropriate perioperative management, and steady surgical team are also important factor for the success of LPD and shorten learning curve.
ObjectiveTo explore the learning process, critical steps and complication prevention of heterotopic abdominal heart transplantation (HAHT) model in rats,and effectively improve the learning process and shorten the learning curve. MethodsSurgical experience of 146 rats of HAHT from October 2012 to January 2013 was summarized. Operation time,successful rate and failure reasons were analyzed. ResultsA training time of 140-150 hours was needed to successfully master surgical skills of HAHT in rats. Average operation time was 83±27 minutes. There were 105 successful HAHT rats (72%) and 41 failed HAHT rats(28%) among 146 HAHT rats. Major failure reasons included hemorrhagic shock (16 rats,39%) grafted heart rebeating failure (7 rats,17%) and anastomotic stenosis (7 rats,17%). ConclusionVascular anastomosis is the key procedure for the establishment of HAHT model in rats.
ObjectiveTo explore the learning curve of single pore video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for the treatment of pulmonary bullae. MethodsFrom July 2010 to October 2011, sixty consecutive patients with pulmo-nary bulla undergoing single pore VATS by the same group of surgeons in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Songgang People's Hospital. According to the sequence of the operations, all the patients were divided into group A, B, and C with 20 patients in each group. Operation time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative hospital stay and thoracic drainage duration were compared between the 3 groups to evaluate surgical outcomes in different stages. Operation time and postoperative hospital stay were the main indexes of the learning curve. ResultsThere was no statistical difference in age, gender or incidence of pneumothorax between the 3 groups (P > 0.05). Operation time of group A (42.7±9.4 minutes) was significantly longer than those of group B (21.3±6.7 minutes) and group C (20.8±7.5 minutes) (P < 0.01). Postoperative hospital stay of group A (10.6±2.2 days) was significantly longer than those of group B (7.6±1.2 days) and group C (7.4±1.2 days) (P < 0.05). There was no statistical difference in other indexes among the 3 groups (P > 0.05). ConclusionThe learning curve of single pore VATS for the treatment of pulmonary bullae is approximately 20 cases.
ObjectiveTo monitor surgical quality and analyze learning curve of minimally invasive mitral valve replacement (MVR)through right minithoracotomy with cumulative sum analysis (CUSUM analysis). MethodsClinical data of 60 consecutive patients who underwent minimally invasive MVR through right minithoracotomy in the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University from June 2011 to April 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 32 male and 28 female patients with their age of 28-53 (34.67±7.11)years and their heart function ranging from NYHA class Ⅱ to Ⅳ. There were 31 patients with mitral stenosis (MS), 19 patients with mitral regurgitation (MR), and 10 patients with MS and MR. According to the surgical sequence, all the patients were divided into 3 groups (group A, B and C)with 20 patients in each group. Surgical outcomes were compared among the 3 groups, and surgical quality was analyzed with descriptive statistics and CUSUM curves. ResultsAortic cross-clamp time, cardiopulmonary bypass time and operation time of group C were significantly shorter than those of group A and group B (aortic cross-clamp time of group C vs. group A:50.35±2.30 minutes vs. 66.15±8.38 minutes; operation time of group C vs. group B:167.50±4.63 minutes vs. 178.60±4.49 minutes, P < 0.05). In-hospital mortality was 3.3% (2/60). CUSUM analysis showed a significant learning curve effect, although surgical quality remained in control during the study period. Surgical failure rate was lower than 80% after about 45 operations, indicating that failure rate was 10% lower than expectation. ConclusionMinimally invasive MVR is safe and reliable, and CUSUM analysis is a simple statistical method to monitor surgical quality.
Allogeneic mouse model of peritoneal heart transplant is a microscopic surgery on small animal with complex techniques. For a beginner, a learning curve of this surgical technique has to be experienced. The learning curve contains three stages:(1) to be familiar with the local anatomy of either donor or recipient mouse; (2) to be capable of collecting donor heart and well preparing the major peritoneal vessels of recipient; (3) to be skillful in the anastomosis of major vessels. The bottleneck of the learning curve is the valid skill of vascular anastomosis. The stepwise essentials are to "understand, be familiar, be accurate, and be quick" in the learning curve.
ObjectiveTo investigate the influence of the degree of acetabular deformity and the learning-curve on the acetabular cup positions in total hip arthroplasty (THA) for adults with developmental dysplasia of hip (DDH). MethodsBetween January 2008 and December 2015, 130 patients (144 hips) with DDH underwent primary THA, and the clinical data were analyzed retrospectively. Fifty-three patients (59 hips) were admitted before 2012, and 77 patients (85 hips) were treated after 2012. There were 32 males and 98 females, aged from 31 to 83 years (mean, 61). Unilateral replacement was performed in 116 cases and bilateral replacement in 14 cases. Of 144 hips, 48 hips were rated as Crowe type I, 57 hips as type II, and 39 hips as type of III/IV. The standard pelvic radiograph was taken within 1 week after operation. The mediCAD software was adopted to measure the angle of anteversion and abduction, bony coverage, and the distance between true rotating center and optimal rotating center to the connection of teardrops and the horizontal distance between two centers to evaluate the qualified rate of acetabular cup positions. ResultsCompared with the patients with the same type in 2013-2015 group, the anteversion angle and qualified rate of acetabular cup position significantly decreased in patients with Crowe I (P < 0.05); the horizontal distance significantly increased and qualified rate of acetabular cup position significantly decreased in patients with Crowe II (P < 0.05); and the anteversion angle significantly decreased and the horizontal distance significantly increased in patients with Crowe III/IV (P < 0.05) in 2008-2012 group. But no significant difference was shown in the other indexes (P > 0.05). In all Crowe types, the vertical distance between the true rotating center and the optimal rotating center increased with the degree of acetabular deformity in both 2008-2012 group and 2013-2015 group, showing significant difference (P < 0.05), but no significant difference was found in the other indexes (P > 0.05). ConclusionFor adults with acetabular dysplasia, there are high potential risks for unsatisfactory acetabular cup positions during primary THA. So it is necessary to evaluate acetabular deformities and to sum up operative experience so as to improve the accuracy of cups installation.
Objective To investigate the learning curve of laparoscopic assisted rectal cancer radical resection of a surgeon and share the experience of laparoscopic surgery. Methods The date of 119 consecutive patients who were suffered operation by same team during January 2010 to December 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. The learning curve and its stages were obtained by using weighted moving average method, cumulative sum analysis(CUSUM), risk-adjusted CUSUM (RA-CUSUM)and Matlab software. The effects of each stage, such as operative time, intraoperative bold loss, harvested lymph node numbers, distal margin to the edge of tumor, complications after operation, hospital stay days, and the first time take soft food were compared, and the experience of laparoscopic assisted surgery for rectal cancer was summarized. Results Our learning curve was divided into three periods, the cutting point was around 36th and 80th cases, respectively. There was no significant difference between the 3 stages in general data, however when comparing the operative time, loss of blood, harvested lymph node numbers, the distal margin to the edge of tumor, hospital stay and total complications, the last period were best and the first stage were worst. Conclusions The learning curve can be divided into three stages, the exploration, mastery and proficient period. Our term, fixed and with rich experience in laparotomy, completed our first exploration period at about 36th patients and the second stage is around 80th cases. And the short term effect of each period’s had gradually improved with master of laparoscopic technique.
Objective To investigate the learning curve for da Vinci robot-assisted mediastinal tumor resection (DRMTR). Methods A total of 50 consecutive patients received DRMTR between March 2011 and September 2012 in our hospital. Clinical data of the 50 patients were collected and analyzed. There were 23 males, 27 females aged 46.9(17–80) years. The learning curve was evaluated by using the cumulative sum (CUSUM) analysis. Results The mean operation time was 124.6 min. The CUSUM learning curve was best modeled as a third-order polynomial curve with the equation: CUSUM=0.046×case-number3–4.681×case-number2+127.508×case-number–237.940, which had a highR2 value of 0.868. The fitting curve reached the top after the 19th case, which suggested that the surgeons master the technique after they finished 19 cases. As a cut-off point, the 19th case divided the learning curve into two phases, in which there was statistical diffference in operation time (P<0.01), intraoperative blood loss (P<0.01), the postoperative duration of chest tube drainage (P<0.01 ) and the rate of postoperative complications (P<0.05 ). Conclusion The DRMTR identified by CUSUM analysis represents two characteristic stages of DRMTR: the learning stage and the mastery stage. It is suggested from our data that the surgeons need finish about 19 cases to master DRMTR.
ObjectiveTo summarize the surgical learning curve and evaluate the effectiveness, safety and feasibility of the robotic-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (RATS) by comparing with the conventional vedio-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS).MethodsThe clinical data of 40 patients receiving robotic assisted thoracoscopic anatomic lung resection from March to June 2016 in our department were reviewed. There were 29 males and 11 females with the age of 54-78 (60.2±12.7) years in the RATS group, and 27 males and 10 females with the age of 52-76 (58.7±11.5) years in the VATS group. Lung space-occupying lesions were comfirmed by preoperative diagnosis. The operative time, blood loss, chest tube retention time, postoperative hospital stay and perioperative morbidity and mortality were analyzed. The safety and feasibility were evaluated, and the learning curve was summed up.ResultsOperative time, postoperative ventilation time, intraoperative blood loss, chest tube retention time, postoperative pain, average hospital stay, postoperative complication rate between two groups were not statistically significant. In the RATS group preoperative preparation time was longer than that of the VATS group (24.5 min vs. 15.6 min, P=0.003), and the rate of conversion to thoracotomy of the RATS group was lower than that of the VATS group (0 vs. 10.8%). There was no perioperative death in two groups.ConclusionRobotic-assisted thoracic surgery is safe and effective in the early learning process, and the learning curve can be entered into the standard stage from the learning stage after initial 10 operations.