Mummification in a Chinese patient with grief: a morbid symptom or a cultural practice?

Mummification was first described by Gorer in 1965 as a feature of grief in which the deceased individual's belongings and, in extreme cases, his or her corpse are preserved as if he or she was still alive and, often, the grieving person acts as if the deceased will return at a later date. Little research has been done on the cultural differences of patients demonstrating mummification. In the Asian community, a common belief is that there is life after death. The spirits of the dead are believed to exist in the human world, and ancestral worship is a common practice among Chinese people. Gorer believed that mummification was a maladaptation of unresolved grief in a ritual-less society. While this may possibly be true in western societies, this theory does not necessarily comply with Chinese practices. This case study discusses the psychopathology of mummification in a grieving Chinese patient and explores the importance of considering cultural influences in assessing the morbidity of this symptom.

Evaluation of a head-mounted display (HMD) in the performance of a simulated laparoscopic task

BACKGROUND

Head-mounted display (HM) units are used in various industries, but they have been tried only recently in surgery. In this study, we evaluated whether a commercially available HMD would improve or impede a laparoscopic task-in this case, suturing.

METHODS

Six participants performed a total of 120 laparoscopic suture knots in an experimental model. The Olympus FMD011 model with a two-dimensional image was used. The order of each task with or without the head display unit was random. The time to complete each knot was recorded, and the results were analyzed.

RESULTS

The display unit prolonged the suturing times of the subjects by 10% (p < 0.04).

CONCLUSIONS

In this experimental model, the HMD we utilized did not appear to improve laparoscopic suturing. More developments, such as improved depth perception and better resolution, may increase its usefulness for laparoscopic tasks.

Two-trocar laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a reproducible technique

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is usually performed with a four-trocar technique. From December 1998 to March 1999, 25 of 42 admitted patients underwent a two-trocar laparoscopic cholecystectomy. In our technique, after establishing umbilical carbon dioxide pneumoperitoneum, a 30 degree scope was inserted, and a second 5-mm trocar was positioned below and to the left of the xiphoid process. Then two stitches with nonabsorbable sutures were passed: one at the fundus to pull up the gallbladder, and the second through the neck of the gallbladder to expose the structure of the Calot triangle. Intraoperative cholangiography was performed with a percutaneous catheter in 15 patients. Retrograde cholecystectomy was performed and the gallbladder was extracted through the umbilical port. Scars were closed with glue, and bupivacaine was injected to reduce pain. The technique was feasible in approximately 84% (25 of 30) of patients. The mean operative time was 42 minutes, and the mean hospital stay was 1.6 days. We conclude that this method is similar to four-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy in terms of safety and operation time. This technique seems to be well reproducible and offers better results in terms of postoperative pain, hospital stay without considering better cosmetic results, and cost-effectiveness.