Two Danbury Hospital Surgeons Educate World’s Best In October

DANBURY –– Two of Danbury Hospital’s finest surgeons headed to the windy city October 19-23 to share their surgical expertise at the American College of Surgeons 89th Annual Clinical Congress, “Tomorrow’s Surgery: What You Need to Learn Today.”

Dr Pierre F. Saldinger, chief of general surgery and the Carmen and Peter Buck Chair in Surgical Oncology, and Dr Keith A. Zuccala, director of laparoscopic surgery, were to present “Laparoscopic Intragastric Resection of a Gastrointestinal Stomal Tumor” as part of an educational session about gastric bypass (weight loss) surgery and procedures for other digestive diseases.

 The conference brings together the international surgical community for postgraduate courses and other education to help improve current practice, research, and patient care.

Dr Saldinger, who specializes in benign and cancerous diseases of the liver, bile ducts, and pancreas, and Dr Zuccala, a leading specialist in advanced laparoscopy, have worked to expand “minimally invasive” surgery capabilities following their appointments to Danbury Hospital in 2001. They are joined by dozens of surgeons affiliated with Danbury Hospital who are leading the way into a new era of surgical treatment, challenging the conventional with new techniques that promise to revolutionize how many diseases and conditions are managed. More than 30 surgical procedures at Danbury Hospital are routinely performed with minimally invasive methods, which means shorter hospital stays, less downtime from work, better cosmetic results, and less pain for selected patients.

“Danbury Hospital has fast become a center of excellence for ‘minimally invasive’ surgery in Connecticut and the adjacent New York state, which is helping a growing number of the area’s patients recover faster than with traditional ‘open’ surgery,” said Dr Saldinger. “We are looking forward to sharing our results at the national level. The surgery we will present is testimony to a multidisciplinary effort between highly skilled specialists from surgery and gastroenterology and a commitment from Danbury Hospital to the highest excellence in this field.”

 The surgery consisted of inserting a camera or laparoscope into the patient’s stomach in order to remove a tumor.

Dr Saldinger explained, “Once removed, the tumor was placed in a plastic bag and removed via an endoscope by Dr Joseph Fiorito, chief of gastroenterology, through the patient’s mouth. Using this technique we avoided removing a large part of the patient’s stomach, a large incision, and a complicated hospital stay. Dr Zuccala acquired this technique during his training at the Cleveland Clinic; it is, to the best of our knowledge, the first time it has been performed in Connecticut.”

“I believe we’re bringing cutting-edge technology and techniques to Danbury Hospital; in the past, our patients had to travel long distances to receive this level of care,” said Dr Zuccala. “People no longer have to travel out of town to receive the latest surgical therapy. We are performing advanced techniques such as this case and laparoscopic pancreatic surgery that were traditionally only available at major academic hospitals in big cities. Now, this advanced health care is available right here at Danbury Hospital.”

In addition to serving as chief of general surgery and the incumbent of the Carmen and Peter Buck Chair in Surgical Oncology, Dr Saldinger is an associate professor of clinical surgery at New York Medical College. He supports Danbury Hospital’s Praxair Cancer Center, where his surgical practice is devoted to hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery with special emphasis on surgery of the pancreas, liver resections for primary liver tumors, liver metastases or bile duct cancers, bile duct resections, and laparoscopic liver surgery. He was previously an assistant professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and surgical director of the Liver and Gastrointestinal Cancer Program at Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston.

Dr Saldinger graduated from the University of Basle Medical School in Switzerland and received his surgical training at the University Hospital in Bern, Switzerland, and at Beth Israel Hospital, Boston. He completed a clinical fellowship in hepatobiliary surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He has authored numerous papers and book chapters on the treatment of liver and bile duct cancers and the surgical treatment of pancreatic cancer. His research interests include minimally invasive therapies for gastrointestinal cancers.

As director of laparoscopic surgery at Danbury Hospital, Dr Zuccala focuses on advanced laparoscopy for staging of gastrointestinal cancers, antireflux procedures, repair of gastroesophageal/ diaphragmatic hernias, surgery for achalasia, surgical treatment of morbid obesity/gastric bypass, splenectomy, and adrenalectomy. Additionally, he has advanced skills for laparoscopic intervention on the biliary tract, intragastric tumor excision, surgery of the pancreas, resection of the large and small bowel, and specialized training for a variety of endoscopic procedures on the gastrointestinal tract.

Prior to completing a fellowship in endoscopic surgery at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio, Dr Zuccala completed a surgical internship and residency at St. Elizabeth Health Center, Youngstown, Ohio, where he was honored as the Society of Laparoscopic Surgery Outstanding Laparoendoscopic Resident Surgeon. He earned his medical degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Dr Zuccala previously served as a clinical instructor in surgery at Northeastern Ohio University College of Medicine. He is an assistant clinical professor of surgery at New York Medical College. He has written many articles on endoscopic and laparoscopic surgical techniques, and is an editorial reviewer on the clinical management of surgical patients.