Correspondence

Experimental study of the effect of intraperitoneal heparin on tumour implantation following laparoscopy P. Ziprin, M. Puttick, A. Darzi, Minimal Access Surgical Unit, Imperial College School of Medicine, St Mary's Hospital, London W2 INY, UK Effect of training on the incidence of nerve damage in thyroid surgery S. Sinha, Department of General Surgery, Arrowe Park Hospital, Wirral L49 5PE, UK Current management of acute leg ischaemia: results of an audit by the Vascular Surgical Society of Great Britain and Ireland S. Akgun, A. Civelek, S. İsbir, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Marmara University Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey Author's reply W. B. Campbell, Department of Surgery, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Exeter EX2 5DW, UK Leucocyte count and C‐reactive protein in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis J. V. Taylor, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Louisville, Kentucky 40292, USA Author's reply J. Grönroos, Department of Surgery, University of Turku, PB 52, FIN‐20521 Turku, Finland Interstitial laser coagulation for hepatic tumours L. R. Jiao, Department of Surgery, Maidstone Hospital, Maidstone ME16 9QQ, UK and N. A. Habib, Liver Surgery Section, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College School of Medicine, London W12 0HS, UK Author's reply J. Heisterkamp, R. van Hillegersberg, J. N. M. Ijzermans, Department of Surgery, Erasmus University Rotterdam, University Hospital Rotterdam ‘Dijkzigt’, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Risk scoring in surgical patients P. P. Tekkis, L. M. South, G. A. Trotter, Department of Surgery, Maidstone General Hospital, Maidstone ME16 9QQ and A. J. E. Bentley, R. M. Kocher, Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup DA14 6LT Author's reply H. J. S. Jones, L. de Cossart, Department of Surgery, Countess of Chester Hospital, Chester CH2 1UL, UK Intraoperative lymphatic mapping and the sentinel node concept in colorectal carcinoma M. R. S. Keshtgar, A. Amin, I. Taylor, Department of Surgery, Royal Free and University College Medical School, Charles Bell House, 67–73 Riding House Street, London W1P 7LD, UK Author's reply L. J. A. Strobbe, on behalf of the authors, Department of Surgery, C22, Canisius Wilhelmina Hospital, PO Box 9015, 6500 GS Nijmegen, The Netherlands Randomized clinical trial of laparoscopic versus open inguinal hernia repair D. S. Bhandarkar, Department of Surgery, Sir Hurkisondas Hospital, Prarthana Samaj, Mumbai 400 004, India Letter 2 A. E. Kark, M. Kurzer, P. Belsham, British Hernia Centre, 87 Watford Way, Hendon, London NW4 4RS, UK Author's reply P. Juul, Department of Surgery, Nyborg Hospital, 5800 Nyborg, Denmark. © 1999 British Journal of Surgery Society Ltd