- Email: [email protected]
Letter to the Editor
Journal of Pediatric Surgery (2008) 43, 1418
www.elsevier.com/locate/jpedsurg
Correspondence
Letter to the Editor
Reply to Letter to the Editor
To the Editor, We read with interest the article, “Efficacy of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the pediatric population” by Siddiqui et al. (J Pediatr Surg 2008;43:109-113). We could not help noticing the similarities between our publication on the same topic—Vegunta RK, Raso M, Pollock J, Misra S, Wallace LJ, Torres Jr A, and Pearl RH. Biliary dyskinesia: the most common indication for cholecystectomy in children. Surgery 2005;138(4):726-31. Our study had a total of 107 patients with distribution of primary diagnoses and outcomes that were very similar to those published by Siddiqui et al. Out of the total of 107, 62 patients had biliary dyskinesia. As part of our study, we gathered information about long-term outcomes with the help of a telephone survey. Our findings suggested that in a significant number of children, favorable outcomes were not durable. Although 85% of the children had either complete or considerable relief of symptoms within 2 weeks of cholecystectomy for biliary dyskinesia, residual or recurrent symptoms were reported by 52% of the patients at long-term follow-up. Although we are disappointed that our publication was not cited in the current article, we would like to invite a comment about evidence supporting their conclusion regarding durability of results after laparoscopic cholecystectomy for biliary dyskinesia in their population. Sincerely,
To the Editor, I would like to thank my colleagues in Peoria, Illinois, for their comments regarding our work recently published in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery. I would also like to extend my apologies for not citing their important work but assure them that we are aware of it. Wealsowereable(andcontinuetodoso)tolookatlong-term outcomes in our patients who undergo laparoscopic cholecystectomy for biliary dyskinesia. Although our long-term results werenotquitesimilar,Iagreethatthedurabilityofthisprocedure for this indication is an issue. In fact, our results, as well as the longer term outcomes, are discussed with patients and their familiesduringourinformed consent process. Of course, the concept of “durability” is not new to the practice of pediatric surgery, whether one is referring to herniorrhaphy or fundoplication, which emphasizes the need for continued outcomes measurements in our specialty.
Ravindra K. Vegunta College of Medicine, University of Illinois Peoria, IL 61603, USA E-mail address: [email protected] doi:10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2008.03.044
0022-3468/$ – see front matter © 2008 Elsevier inc. All rights reserved.
Alfred Kennedy Department of Surgery University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN E-mail address: [email protected] doi:10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2008.04.001
www.elsevier.com/locate/jpedsurg
Correspondence
Letter to the Editor
Reply to Letter to the Editor
To the Editor, We read with interest the article, “Efficacy of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the pediatric population” by Siddiqui et al. (J Pediatr Surg 2008;43:109-113). We could not help noticing the similarities between our publication on the same topic—Vegunta RK, Raso M, Pollock J, Misra S, Wallace LJ, Torres Jr A, and Pearl RH. Biliary dyskinesia: the most common indication for cholecystectomy in children. Surgery 2005;138(4):726-31. Our study had a total of 107 patients with distribution of primary diagnoses and outcomes that were very similar to those published by Siddiqui et al. Out of the total of 107, 62 patients had biliary dyskinesia. As part of our study, we gathered information about long-term outcomes with the help of a telephone survey. Our findings suggested that in a significant number of children, favorable outcomes were not durable. Although 85% of the children had either complete or considerable relief of symptoms within 2 weeks of cholecystectomy for biliary dyskinesia, residual or recurrent symptoms were reported by 52% of the patients at long-term follow-up. Although we are disappointed that our publication was not cited in the current article, we would like to invite a comment about evidence supporting their conclusion regarding durability of results after laparoscopic cholecystectomy for biliary dyskinesia in their population. Sincerely,
To the Editor, I would like to thank my colleagues in Peoria, Illinois, for their comments regarding our work recently published in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery. I would also like to extend my apologies for not citing their important work but assure them that we are aware of it. Wealsowereable(andcontinuetodoso)tolookatlong-term outcomes in our patients who undergo laparoscopic cholecystectomy for biliary dyskinesia. Although our long-term results werenotquitesimilar,Iagreethatthedurabilityofthisprocedure for this indication is an issue. In fact, our results, as well as the longer term outcomes, are discussed with patients and their familiesduringourinformed consent process. Of course, the concept of “durability” is not new to the practice of pediatric surgery, whether one is referring to herniorrhaphy or fundoplication, which emphasizes the need for continued outcomes measurements in our specialty.
Ravindra K. Vegunta College of Medicine, University of Illinois Peoria, IL 61603, USA E-mail address: [email protected] doi:10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2008.03.044
0022-3468/$ – see front matter © 2008 Elsevier inc. All rights reserved.
Alfred Kennedy Department of Surgery University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN E-mail address: [email protected] doi:10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2008.04.001