The world has been engulfed with the pandemic of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which have created significant impact in the emergency surgical health delivery ...including acute appendicitis. The main aim of this study was to compare the demographic and clinical parameters between two cohorts before the onset of lockdown and within the pandemic.
A retrospective analysis was performed between two groups A and B, who presented with acute appendicitis three months prior to and after initiation of lockdown on March 24 2020 respectively in one of the tertiary centers of Nepal. These two cohorts were compared in demographics, clinicopathological characteristics and surgical aspects of acute appendicitis.
There were 42 patients in group A and 50 patients in group B. Mean age of the patients was 31.32±17.18 years with male preponderance in group B (N = 29). Mean duration of pain increased significantly in group B 57.8±25.9(B) vs 42.3±25.0(A) hours, P = 0.004 along with mean duration of surgery 51.06±9.4(B) vs 45.27±11.8(A) minutes, P = 0.015. There was significant decrease in post-operative hospital stay among group B patients 3.04±1.1(B) vs 3.86±0.67(A) days, P = 0.0001. Complicated cases increased in group B including appendicular perforation in 10 cases. Similarly, mean duration of presentation to hospital significantly increased in group B patients with perforation 69.6±21.01 vs 51.57±17.63 hours, P = 0.008.
During the adversity of the current pandemic, increased number of cases of acute appendicitis can be dealt with surgery as the chances of late presentation and complexity of the lesion exists.
Diabetic foot problem in Nepal Baral, Suman; Rajbhandari, Satyan
Frontiers in endocrinology,
2023, Volume:
14
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Nepal is a developing country where diabetes is becoming a major health challenge due to its high prevalence of 8.5% affecting around 2 million people. Due to limited resources, there are many ...barriers to providing affordable and convenient diabetes care or regular screening for complications. There is no reliable data on incidence, prevalence, and complications of diabetic foot problems in Nepal.
We conducted an online survey amongst senior physicians, who were members of 'Diabetes & Endocrine Association of Nepal' to assess their perception of diabetic foot problems in Nepal.
Thirty-Eight physicians responded to the survey who saw a total of 17597 patients in the preceding month. They recalled seeing 647 with 'Diabetic Foot Ulcers', giving a crude Diabetic Foot Ulcer prevalence rate of 3.7%. They recalled seeing 2522 patients with painful neuropathy that required medical treatment, giving a crude painful neuropathy prevalence rate of 14.3%. A history of foot ulcer was present in an additional 578 patients. Previous minor amputation had been performed in 215 patients (1.2%) and major amputation in 135 patients (0.8%).
Despite having expertise in various fields there is no dedicated multi-disciplinary diabetic foot clinic in Nepal. This survey shows that diabetic foot problems are abundant in Nepal and there is a need for structured multi-disciplinary approach for screening and treatment.
Ancient Indian classical music (ICM) has long been lauded and recognized for influencing emotional responses by influencing the human body's resonance. A meta-analysis of prospective case studies ...published in the last ten years on the effect of ancient Indian music rāgas on brain waves is investigated. This meta-analysis aimed to analyze published prospective studies investigating the effect of ancient Indian rāgas on EEG in healthy subjects. The present study included prospective studies published since 2012. Studies were obtained by searching four databases, such as PsychINFO, PubMed, Google Scholar, and JSTOR, and searching related journals. Eligibility criteria included studies assessing the impact of listening to Indian classical music on the EEG. Primary outcomes were changes in the brain waves, frequency, and power and their relationship to activity-related arousal, attention, and mental tasks. The studies were analyzed according to the PRISMA guidelines. There were a total of five included studies with 71 participants in the age range of 19-30, and the conditions for the test groups were generally similar except for varying types of rāgas used and time of day. Analysis of the data collected from 71 participants revealed that music interventions had statistically significant effects on increasing alpha activity and attention scores. Fractal analysis was sensitive enough to detect EEG brainwave changes while and after listening to the rāga musical intervention. Rāgas stimulate arousal in different areas of the brain, depending on the emotions they are designed to evoke. However, the synchronized studies together could not highlight a significant relationship between rāgas and EEG fractal dimension values. Although the meta-analysis failed to reproduce the same results from the individual studies, potentially due to the small sample size and study variation, the meta-analysis opens doors to the potential of rāgas to elicit distinct emotions and serve as robust predictors of emotional response. Future studies can explore the therapeutic potential of various rāgas in the clinical setting, such as in the management of cognitive disorders and stress or in modulating heart rate variability and cognitive performance.
Penile fractures are clinically diagnosed with eggplant‐like deformity of the penis (aubergine sign). Surgical repair immediately following the penile fracture is the standard of care, which usually ...heals with minimal or no complications.
Penile fractures are clinically diagnosed with eggplant‐like deformity of the penis (aubergine sign). Surgical repair immediately following the penile fracture is the standard of care, which usually heals with minimal or no complications.
Background: Male genital injuries are urological emergencies which if not promptly treated with correct therapeutic intervention may lead to chances of loss of fertility due to infections and ...anatomical disruption of normalcy. This study highlights the clinical scenarios, etiology and outcome of male genital injury cases that were managed at a tertiary care center in Nepal. Such injuries are not frequently encountered as lack of reporting by patients means cases are rare. The present study is the first from Nepal which depicts a comprehensive report on male genital injuries.
Methods: A retrospective analysis of discharge summaries was carried out and the cases of male genital injuries were reviewed during June 2020. All the treated cases during the two-year period from April 2018 to April 2020 at Lumbini Medical College, Nepal were included in the study.
Results: There were eight cases of genital trauma admitted and treated during the study period. All the patients were males and age ranged from six to 71 years with a mean age of 33 ± 21.45 years. Fall injury and road traffic accidents (RTA) were observed to be the primary cause in the majority of cases.
Conclusion: Superficial injuries to the penis and scrotum do not require surgical exploration and could be managed conservatively. However, deeper and complicated injuries, testicular preservation, the functionality of the part and cosmetic issues are taken into consideration which might require a multi-disciplinary approach. Apart from the medical issues pertaining to genital injuries, there are legal and psychological aspects of such events too which should not be ignored.
Introduction. Difficult geographic diversity and late presentation to medical attention often make the laparoscopic cholecystectomy difficult and chances of conversion and complication remains. ...Various preoperative grading scales have been developed for predicting the difficulty of surgery in cholecystitis patients; however, intraoperative assessment of anatomical status and inflammation of the gall bladder has not been assessed till date except for some guidelines like the Parkland grading scale (PGS). We aimed to utilise this guideline in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy in rural community of the developing nation. Methods. PGS was applied for all the patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy and laboratory and outcome factors like preoperative white blood cells (WBC), open conversion, subtotal cholecystectomy, length of surgery, and bile leaks postoperatively were assessed. Results. Among 178 patients who underwent cholecystectomy, there were 40 grade one GBs, 90 grade two GBs, 26 grade three GBs, 16 grade four GBs, and six grade five GBs. With a conversion rate of 6.74%, eight patients underwent subtotal cholecystectomy. Among them, four patients were graded as 5th grade, two as 4th grade, and two as 3rd grade according to PGS system. Postoperative bile leak was seen in three patients among which two were grade five GBs and one was grade four. Preoperative WBC, conversion to open, subtotal cholecystectomy, length of surgery, and postoperative bile leak all significantly increased with increasing grades (p<0.05). Conclusion. PGS can be applied in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the rural setting of a developing nation. With its application, postoperative course could be predicted and adequate counselling can be done about the possibilities of the outcome.
Melioidosis is a life-threatening infectious disease that is caused by gram negative bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei. This bacteria occurs as an environmental saprophyte typically in endemic ...regions of south-east Asia and northern Australia. Therefore, patients with melioidosis are at high risk of being misdiagnosed and/or under-diagnosed in South Asia.
Here, we report two cases of melioidosis from Nepal. Both of them were diabetic male who presented themselves with fever, multiple abscesses and developed sepsis. They were treated with multiple antimicrobial agents including antitubercular drugs before being correctly diagnosed as melioidosis. Consistent with this, both patients were farmer by occupation and also reported travelling to Malaysia in the past. The diagnosis was made consequent to the isolation of B. pseudomallei from pus samples. Accordingly, they were managed with intravenous meropenem followed by oral doxycycline and cotrimoxazole.
The case reports raise serious concern over the existing unawareness of melioidosis in Nepal. Both of the cases were left undiagnosed for a long time. Therefore, clinicians need to keep a high index of suspicion while encountering similar cases. Especially diabetic-farmers who present with fever and sepsis and do not respond to antibiotics easily may turn out to be yet another case of melioidosis. Ascertaining the travel history and occupational history is of utmost significance. In addition, the microbiologist should be trained to correctly identify B. pseudomallei as it is often confused for other Burkholderia species. The organism responds only to specific antibiotics; therefore, correct and timely diagnosis becomes crucial for better outcomes.
AbstractIntroductionVan Wyc Grumbach syndrome is a rare presentation of long standing pre-pubertal hypothyroidism characterized by bilateral multicystic ovaries, vaginal bleeding and delayed skeletal ...growth in case of female. Laboratory investigation reveals very high levels of thyroid stimulating hormone and there is presence of delayed bone growth. Case reportHere, we present a clinical course, diagnosis and management of a case of Van Wyc Grumbach syndrome in a 5 year Nepalese female child who otherwise would have undergone surgical intervention if timely thyroid function test was not done. ConclusionIt is important to recognize this syndrome because prompt initiation of easily available thyroid hormone therapy can completely resolve symptoms, avoiding unnecessary investigations and interventions.
Introduction: Meckel’s diverticulum is one the most common congenital anomalies of gastrointestinal tract that mimics acute appendicitis, gastroenteritis, peptic ulcer disease. Complications related ...to it can be haemorrhage, intestinal obstruction, perforation while axial torsion is one of the rarest complications. So, this paper objectifies a rare clinical scenario that we encountered in our practice and highlights on the possible management strategies. Case : An 11 year boy presented with a history of pain at peri-umbilical region for four days with 2-3 episodes of vomiting. Abdominal examination revealed tenderness at suprapubic area with a mass around 5x3 cm along hypogastrium. Ultrasonography abdomen revealed an avascular structure in central area with clumping of bowel and omentum over the lesion while computed tomography scan of abdomen revealed blind ended gas filled structure at hypogastrium with thickened enhancing irregular wall associated with adjacent mesenteric fat plane stranding and prominent adjacent axial vessels supplying inflammatory lesion. Exploratory laparotomy showed axial twisting of diverticulum about 10x5 cm arising from anti-mesenteric border around 50 cm proximal to ileo-caecal junction with a fibrous band attached to the fundus and ileum leading to gangrenous diverticulum with clumping of bowel loops along with omental covering. De-twisting and adhesiolysis along with excision of the diverticulum was done with two layered closure of the defect. Conclusion: Axial torsion is the rarest of the complication of MD and should be managed with utmost caution. Excision of the twisted diverticulum with or without wedge resection of the involved ileum is the procedure of choice.
Various preoperative risk factors for conversion in laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) have been well studied. However, the assessment of intraoperative factors for conversion in patients with ...cholecystitis is unclear. The G10 scoring system, which incorporates 10 parameters, has tried to fill this void by developing a scoring system for the most commonly encountered surgical illnesses. So, we aimed to assess the utility of the G10 scoring system among patients presenting for LC for symptomatic cholelithiasis (both acute and chronic cholecystitis) in the clinical setting of a low- and middle-income country.
All the patients undergoing LC were assigned a G10 value. Gallbladder surgery was considered easy if the G10 score was <2, moderate (2 ≦ 4), difficult (5 ≦ 7), and extreme (8 ≦ 10). All 10 risk factors were analyzed into a binary logistics model, and statistically significant risk factors were assessed.
Among 177 patients, there were 36 males and 141 females. The median age of the patient was 42 years (range 11-79). There were 70 easy, 89 moderate, and 18 difficult cases. The overall mean G10 score was 2.32±1.5, which significantly increased as the severity progressed, with a mean value of 5.5±0.51 for difficult cases (P=0.0001). The mean G10 score for surgeries completed laparoscopically was 2.1±1.4, while it was 3.71±1.4 for open conversions P=0.0001, AUC=0.79, CI=0.70-0.87. There were 18 patients with G10 ≥5 with a conversion rate of 27.7%, while the overall conversion rate was 13.6%. Multivariate analysis showed free bile or pus outside the gallbladder P=0.02, OR=5.1, CI=1.2-21.1 and fistula P=0.01, OR=15.8, CI=1.9-129.8 as significant risk factors for conversion.
Intraoperative risk factors for the prediction of conversion included the presence of free bile or pus outside the gallbladder and cholecystoenteric fistula. Based on the F1 score analysis, complemented with the Youden Index, the optimal cutoff value for conversion, based on the G10 score, lies around 4. Broader application and validation of the G10 scoring system are mandated to assess the utilization of this novel intraoperative scoring system.
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