- Narrow intercostal anatomy is associated with early postoperative pain after thoracoscopic surgery. [Journal Article]Surg Today. 2026 Aug 29. [Online ahead of print]ST
- CONCLUSIONS: This study provides the first evidence that narrow intercostal anatomy is a significant risk factor for early postoperative pain after thoracoscopic surgery. Our novel insights may enhance preoperative risk stratification and support individualized analgesic strategies.
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- Initial surgical results of subcostal uniportal robotic lung resection: a study of the perioperative outcomes and a CUSUM analysis of the learning curve. [Journal Article]Surg Today. 2026 Aug 29. [Online ahead of print]ST
- CONCLUSIONS: Anatomical lung resection using the da Vinci SP system can be safely performed with favorable short-term outcomes. Surgeons with experience in multiport robotics may achieve proficiency in approximately 14-18 cases.
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- A novel technique for initially unresectable locally advanced pancreatic body cancer: pre-resection portal vein reconstruction. [Journal Article]
- Distal pancreatectomy with celiac axis resection (DP-CAR) is performed for locally advanced pancreatic body cancers involving the common hepatic artery (CHA) and/or celiac axis (CA). This procedure becomes especially intractable in cases of portal vein (PV) invasion due to poor mobility around both the CA and PV. However, no previous reports have described the surgical strategies for such difficu…
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- Impact of laparoscopic repeat hepatectomy on the outcomes of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Attempting laparoscopic surgery for repeat hepatectomy is a reasonable option for patients with recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma.
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- Long-term prognosis and postoperative liver atrophy after gastrectomy in patients with gastric cancer and liver cirrhosis. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Gastrectomy in patients with liver cirrhosis was associated with a worse overall survival, primarily because of liver disease-related mortality, whereas cancer-specific survival was comparable to that in patients without cirrhosis. A greater postoperative liver volume reduction has been observed in the patients with cirrhosis, although its mechanism and clinical significance remain unclear. Further prospective studies are warranted to determine whether nutritional or other perioperative interventions improve the postoperative outcomes.
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- A Rasch-based analysis comparing the performance of updated multimodal large language models and surgeons on the Japanese surgical specialist examination. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: For this previously analyzed item set, updated multimodal LLMs achieved an overall accuracy below the surgeon benchmark, with the largest deficits on image-based items, supporting supervised and domain-specific use.
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- Surgical training outcomes of female versus male surgeons in Japan. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Female and male surgical trainees performed similar numbers of operations under general anesthesia, had similar numbers of academic publications, and had similar levels of training satisfaction. However, the gaps in working hours and salary remain concerning issues requiring further investigation and action.
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- Long-term outcomes after salvage surgery for isolated lateral lymph node recurrence in rectal cancer. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Salvage resection for isolated LLNR provides an acceptable OS, but re-recurrence remains frequent. Careful patient selection using PET-CT and multidisciplinary discussions are essential, particularly for patients who require extensive surgery.
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- Robot-assisted surgery for colorectal cancer using the Hugo™ RAS system: an observational study with the initial 118 cases and a literature review. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Hugo-assisted surgery for CRC is feasible and safe. As the largest single-center series reported to date, this study provides important clinical evidence supporting the applicability of Hugo.
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- Validation of versatile training tissue based on konjac powder materials as a surgical training model. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: The VTT demonstrated construct validity as an objective assessment tool for surgical training, offering realistic tissue properties. Our results suggest that VTT could be used as a simulation model for surgical training.
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- Economic outcomes of robot-assisted surgery for gastric and colorectal cancer at a general hospital: a real-world analysis of the volume-cost dilemma. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: A structural Volume-Cost Dilemma, driven by high fixed-maintenance costs, was observed in RAS at a general hospital, proposed as an interpretive framework. Resolving this requires in-hospital cost reduction combined with centralization under the 2026 reimbursement reform, underscoring the need for volume-sensitive policy and multicenter research.
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- Risk factors for infectious complications and postoperative outcomes of colorectal cancer patients with liver cirrhosis: a multicenter retrospective study. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Patients with advanced CRC are at high risk of complications from infections, which can result in a poor short-term prognosis. Thus, thorough preoperative evaluation and referral to a treatment facility with a well-established perioperative management system are essential for these high-risk patients.
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- Preoperative lymph-node enlargement is associated with favorable survival for patients with pathological stage II colorectal cancer. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative lymph-node enlargement predicts favorable OS for patients with pathological stage II colorectal cancer.
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- The role of anterior gastropexy in elderly Japanese hiatal hernia patients. [Letter]
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