Monthly publications

The objective is to demonstrate our technique for thoracoscopic mediastinal mass excision with concomitant bronchial injury repair.
A 13-year-old boy presented with one-month of dysphagia and a history of a recent tick bite prophylactically treated. Esophagram showed a mid-esophageal externally compressing mass confirmed by endoscopy. Chest MRI showed a 5cm mediastinal mass. Differential diagnosis included infected esophageal duplication cyst versus histoplasmoma. A thoracoscopic mass resection was scheduled.
Upon accessing the right chest, a mid-thoracic lesion next to the esophagus was noted. The mass was adherent to the esophageal wall during dissection. Intraoperative biopsy revealed a cottage cheese-like substance in the mass. Frozen section suspected a duplication cyst in the esophageal musculature. As a result, we proceeded with the resection. The cavity was then irrigated and some fluid was noted at the endotracheal tube. A 5mm right mainstem bronchus tear was found. Flexible bronchoscopy was used to repair the injury with absorbable sutures. The mass was removed from the esophageal wall and repaired with absorbable sutures. A small pleural flap was created to prevent the sutures from communicating. The patient had a small persistent pneumothorax several days postoperatively. Repeat flexible bronchoscopy showed no leak or narrowing on postoperative day (POD) 7. The patient was discharged home on POD 8. Final pathology showed a mediastinal lymph node with a non-caseating granuloma. He had positive antibodies to Francisella tularensis (tularemia Ab). His final diagnosis was mediastinal tularemia.
This video demonstrates mediastinal mass diagnostic and treatment challenges. It also shows that concomitant bronchial injuries are safe and effective to repair thoracoscopically.

Symptomatic ovarian cysts or larger incidentally diagnosed ovarian cysts require treatment. If features of malignancy can be reasonably ruled out, minimally invasive procedures can be offered to not only excise the lesion but also preserve the ovary at the same time.
A 10-year-old female child was referred to our department with complaints of right lower abdominal pain which lasted for 6 months. She had no history of vomiting. On examination, her abdomen was soft, non-tender, with no palpable mass, and not distended. Abdominal sonography revealed a 5 by 4.5cm simple cyst in the right adnexa with a 1.7mm wall thickness, with no solid component or septation. Her right ovary was not seen separately. Her left ovary and uterus showed no abnormalities. Malignancy work-up revealed nothing suspicious (Beta-HCG: 2.9 IU/L, AFP: 1.3ng/mL, CA125: 10.9, all within normal range). A robotic-assisted complete cyst excision with preservation of the ovary was performed using 3 arms of the Da Vinci Xi™ robotic surgical system. The patient resumed oral food intake the same evening. He was discharged the following day within 24 hours of the procedure on paracetamol only. The patient was healthy and well. The biopsy reported a benign serous cystadenoma. At a 1-year follow-up, the child is asymptomatic and ovarian preservation was confirmed on postoperative ultrasound. While oophorectomy is eminently feasible with a minimally invasive approach, ovary preservation in benign lesions is quite challenging using pure laparoscopy. Robotic assistance, with its 3D binocular high-definition vision, articulating instruments, and availability of simultaneous energy in both arms, provides better precision and a maximum range of movements. It also helps to preserve the ovary while removing the cyst completely. The case report with a stepwise video of the procedure is demonstrated.

In this video, we present the case of a left-sided unilateral indirect inguinal hernia in the canal of Nuck in a 7-year-old female patient. Treatment was performed using the laparoscopic TEP inguinal hernia repair technique. The hernia sac was promptly identified and dissected without any concern to cord structures since the patient was a female. The herniotomy was performed with an Endoloop®. The only constraints of surgery were limited operating space and ergonomic handling of instruments. The patient was discharged in the evening of surgery and wounds healed within a week. Postoperative follow-up after 6 months revealed excellent cosmesis and a complete absence of hernia on the operated site. Mini laparoscopic instruments can also be used to improve surgical cosmesis and ensure same day discharge without any postoperative sequelae.

Laparoscopic left hepatectomy is a well-established approach in adults. However, its place in pediatric patients is not widely described. Despite technical complexity and smaller instruments, good results with similar benefits can be achieved.
This is the case of a 15-month-old girl with an incidental finding of a hepatoblastoma in liver segment IV. After neoadjuvant chemotherapy with volumetric shrinking, a laparoscopic left hepatectomy was decided upon.

This video describes the rare case of a laparoscopic hepatectomy in a pediatric patient. The pure laparoscopic anatomical resection of Couinaud liver segments 5 and 6 in a 3-year-old girl suffering from a hepatoblastoma is presented and has been accomplished.

In this video, we describe the anatomic thoracoscopic repair of esophageal atresia with distal tracheoesophageal fistula (ATREA) in patients with different anatomic presentations (newborn with typical anatomy, newborn with azygos lobe, newborn with major vascular malformation) in a stepwise fashion. For detailed information, please consult our paper “Anatomic thoracoscopic repair of esophageal atresia”, by Fonte et al. (2017).