In this article, an attempt was made to clarify the role of percutaneous endoscopic necrosectomy (PEN) in the interventional treatment of pancreatic necrosis. A comprehensive review of the current literature was performed to identify publications on the role of PEN in patients with consequences of acute necrotizng pancreatitis. The aim of the study was to review the literature on minimal invasive necrosectomy, with emphasis on PEN using esophageal self-expanding metal stents (SEMS). The described results come from 15 studies after a review of the current literature. The study group comprised 52 patients (36 men and 16 women; mean age, 50.87 (13-75) years) with walled-off pancreatic necrosis, in whom PEN using a self-expandable esophageal stent had been performed. PEN was successfully completed in all 52 patients (100%). PEN complications were observed in 18/52 (34.62%) patients. Clinical success was achieved in 42/52 (80.77%) patients, with follow-up continuing for an average of 136 (14-557) days. In conclusion, the PEN technique is potentially effective, with an acceptable rate of complications and may be implemented with good clinical results in patients with pancreatic necrosis.

Lumbar spinal fusion is one of the most common operations in spinal surgery. For its implementation, anterolateral (pre-psoas) approach (oblique lumbar interbody fusion, OLIF) is now increasingly used due to its high efficacy and safety. However, there is still little information on the clinical and radiological results of using this technique. The aim of the study was to analyze the safety and efficacy of OLIF in the treatment of lumbar spine disorders as presented in the literature.
The systematic electronic search was performed using the Ovid Medline, PubMed, and eLIBRARY.RU electronic databases. The following search key words were used: Oblique Lumbar Interbody Fusion, OLIF, Anterior to Psoas Lumbar Interbody Fusion, and ATP.
For the final analysis, 17 sources were selected; with a total of 2900 patients. Total complication rate was 13.9% (403 cases). The incidence of severe persistent complications was less than 1%. Based on the data obtained, we compared the clinical and radiological results of OLIF with other lumbar fusion methods.
OLIF is an effective, versatile, and minimally traumatic option for lumbar fusion with relatively few complications, which makes it superior to other retroperitoneal approaches. However, the OLIF technique is not completely free of complications associated with the ventral approach, and it cannot provide adequate decompression of the spinal canal in all cases. In addition, anterior approach surgery is still of limited use in cases of spinal deformities; adequate correction of deformity is achievable mainly in combination with posterior surgery.

Minimally invasive surgery continues to be an active area of experimental and clinical research in veterinary medicine. The advances we make in this field correspond to multiple benefits for our patients. New MIS approaches (retroperitoneal, NOTES, robotics) continue to be investigated to provide better visualization and manipulation of important anatomic structures for specific procedures. Increasing the number of MIS techniques available to our patient population is of utmost concern for clinicians and owners and is encouraging exciting new clinical research. New technologies (near-infrared fluorescence, barbed suture, 3D printing) are at the forefront of these developments.

Purpose: The feasibility and safety of the direct puncture tunnel method to establish the retroperitoneal cavity was assessed by CT and clinical experience. Materials and Methods: Ten patients who underwent retroperitoneoscopic procedure were scanned by CT in the lateral decubitus position. The distance between the lumbar fascia and psoas major muscle (L-P distance) on the puncture line was measured. The angle between the puncture line and the posterior colon margin (P-C angle) was also measured. In total, 292 patients who underwent retroperitoneoscopic procedure were used to establish the retroperitoneal cavity using the direct puncture tunnel method, and complications in these patients were evaluated. Results: The average L-P distance was 25.0 mm (left side) and 25.5 mm (right side) in the lateral decubitus position. The average P-C angle was 26.8° (left side) and 29.7° (right side). The retroperitoneal cavity was well established in all 292 patients, and no visceral or blood vessel injury occurred. Conclusions: CT scans in the lateral recumbent position indicate that there are no visceral and large blood vessels on the puncture path. The scans also provide a window for inserting the first trocar blindly into the retroperitoneum. A high success rate and low complication rate were observed clinically for the direct puncture tunnel method. We consider the direct puncture tunnel method to be a simple, effective, and safe way to establish the retroperitoneal cavity.

The purpose of this study was to describe our robotic retroperitoneal para-aortic lymphadenectomy technique and its associated outcomes as well as the advantages and disadvantages. We prospectively collected data on all retroperitoneal aortocaval lymphadenectomy procedures performed at Donostia University Hospital from December 2011 to April 2013 using the da Vinci S robotic system (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale,CA). A total of 13 of these procedures were performed. The mean patient age was 60.3 years (SD, 10.18). Most patients were obese with a mean body mass index of 31.95 kg/m(2) (SD, 5), and 9 had endometrial cancer. Five individuals were restaged: 4 because of lymphovascular space invasion and 1 because of lymphovascular space invasion with G3 histology. There were 2 cases of Fédération Internationale de Gynécologie et d\'Obstétrique stage IB endometrial cancer: 1 of papillary serous histology and 1 of G3. Two patients had advanced cervical cancer, and 2 had early-stage ovarian cancer. The median para-aortic lymph node yield was 12 (range, 4-21). In 3 patients, it was necessary to convert the procedure to transperitoneal access because of technical difficulties; 1 of these required laparotomy. The mean surgical time was 323 minutes (SD, 58) although this included additional complex procedures. Robotic para-aortic retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy is feasible and offers the advantages of retroperitoneal access.