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The Surgeon : Journal of the Royal... May 2024This study aims to shed light on the profound ramifications of the military conflict that started in April 2023 on surgical practice in Sudan.
BACKGROUND
This study aims to shed light on the profound ramifications of the military conflict that started in April 2023 on surgical practice in Sudan.
METHODS
This is a survey-based study. The survey link was disseminated to Sudanese medical practitioners via various social media (WhatsApp, Telegram, X (previously twitter) and Facebook) channels. We included only responses from medical practitioners working in the surgical specialities.
RESULTS
A total of 90 responses have been collected. All participants were working in surgical service provision institutes. Sixty per cent of the responses were from the age group 25-35 years old, and two-thirds of the total cohort either left Sudan or was internally displaced because of the conflict. Moreover, 51% are no longer practising because they had to flee the conflict area (75%) or because the hospital is out of service (20%). There was a significant drop in the average number of emergency and elective lists.
CONCLUSION
The military conflict affected Sudan's already strained health system. There was a significant drop in the average number of emergency and elective lists with surgeons out of practice because they had to flee the conflict area and hospitals were out of service.
PubMed: 38744575
DOI: 10.1016/j.surge.2024.04.015 -
Swiss Dental Journal Feb 2024A papilloma is a benign tumor arising from an epithelial surface. Mostly a papilloma appears as an asymptomatic intraoral lesion and is often associated with the human... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
A papilloma is a benign tumor arising from an epithelial surface. Mostly a papilloma appears as an asymptomatic intraoral lesion and is often associated with the human papilloma virus (HPV). In this case report two similar, verrucous papules, sessile bilateral on the back of the tongue, were surgically removed in a 65-year-old male patient. Thereby two different methods of treatment were compared. On the right side of the back of the tongue, excision by scalpel, as the gold standard treatment modality, was performed. On the left side a surgical removal by a CO2 laser was performed. In a photothermal procedure, without direct contact to the tissue, the laser beam is cutting through the mucosa. Secondary wound healing can take place. Both methods were compared in relation to their application, wound healing, quality of the biopsy and morbidity. Postoperative less discomfort and a slightly faster wound healing could be seen after scalpel removal. The histopathological examination was comparable for both methods.
Topics: Humans; Male; Aged; Lasers, Gas; Tongue Neoplasms; Papilloma; Laser Therapy; Wound Healing
PubMed: 38739046
DOI: 10.61872/sdj-2024-04-02 -
The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery May 2024Microtia is a congenital ear deformity with variability in surgical techniques and tools across surgeons pursuing an autologous reconstruction. Different techniques have...
OBJECTIVE
Microtia is a congenital ear deformity with variability in surgical techniques and tools across surgeons pursuing an autologous reconstruction. Different techniques have emerged over time, and surgeons opt for various tools to aid in creating the complex three-dimensional cartilaginous ear framework. The purpose of this study was to understand the current state of microtia reconstruction in the United States.
METHODS
Microtia surgeons affiliated with the nonprofit, Ear Community, were invited to complete a 20-item survey. Data were collected on demographic information regarding surgeons, considerations when approaching microtia repair in patients, and techniques and comfort levels. Additional data were collected on materials, tools, flaps, and skin grafts used for reconstruction.
RESULTS
Twenty-two surgeons responded to the survey reporting 3 different techniques learned and utilized in practice including the Brent, Nagata, and Firmin techniques. About two-thirds of surgeons were "extremely comfortable" with their techniques and one-third were "extremely uncomfortable" or "somewhat uncomfortable." Most respondents reported using a tunneled temporoparietal fascial flap or a posterior fascial flap along with a full-thickness skin graft for the second stage (ear elevation). Most surgeons utilized a combination of scalpels and gouges when carving the ear framework along with sutures or wire.
CONCLUSIONS
This study highlights the current state of autogenous microtia reconstruction underscoring the variability in approaches and preferences. These data may guide future directions that aim to improve patient outcomes. Surgeons may gain insight into different practices and choose to adopt different aspects to enhance their surgical approach.
PubMed: 38722567
DOI: 10.1097/SCS.0000000000010200 -
Cureus Apr 2024Pyogenic granuloma (PG) refers to an acquired benign proliferation most commonly seen within the oral cavity involving lips, palate, and gingiva. The term is...
Pyogenic granuloma (PG) refers to an acquired benign proliferation most commonly seen within the oral cavity involving lips, palate, and gingiva. The term is misleading since it is a type of lobular capillary haemangioma but not an infection. It frequently recurs but lacks the capacity for malignant alteration. Depending on where the PG is located, one may experience discomfort or irritation. PGs often lead to differential diagnoses by clinicians, which include capillary hemangioma, neurofibroma, melanoma, and hyperplasia. Therefore, one must confirm a PG by diagnosing and analysing it by clinical and histopathological examinations, and treatment options should be formulated according to the evaluation. Sometimes, a biopsy of the lesion can be taken for final diagnosis. Various treatment approaches are available, including conventional scalpel excision, laser, electrocautery, and cryotherapy. Surgical excision is preferable due to the likelihood of malignancy, as it provides the best cosmetic appearance and produces a specimen for pathologic assessment. After confirming all the clinical evaluatory parameters and routine haematological examinations, which proved satisfactory and within normal ranges, this case of a 45-year-old female with soft tissue growth of the gingival origin was managed by electrocautery, and the PG was confirmed by a clinical-histopathological examination.
PubMed: 38721169
DOI: 10.7759/cureus.57794 -
The Cochrane Database of Systematic... May 2024Surgical wounds that become infected are often debrided because clinicians believe that removal of this necrotic or infected tissue may expedite wound healing. There are... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
BACKGROUND
Surgical wounds that become infected are often debrided because clinicians believe that removal of this necrotic or infected tissue may expedite wound healing. There are numerous methods of debridement available, but no consensus on which one is most effective for surgical wounds.
OBJECTIVES
To assess the effects of different methods of debridement on the rate of debridement and healing of surgical wounds.
SEARCH METHODS
In October 2021, we searched the Cochrane Wounds Specialised Register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, and CINAHL. To identify additional studies, we searched clinical trials registries for ongoing and unpublished studies, and scanned reference lists of relevant included studies, reviews, meta-analyses, and health technology reports. There were no restrictions on language, date of publication, or study setting.
SELECTION CRITERIA
We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that enrolled people with a surgical wound that required debridement, and reported time to complete wound debridement or time to wound healing, or both.
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two review authors independently performed study selection, risk of bias assessment using the RoB 1 tool, data extraction, and GRADE assessment of the certainty of evidence.
MAIN RESULTS
In this fourth update, we identified one additional study for inclusion. The review now includes six studies, with 265 participants, aged three to 91 years. Five studies were published between 1979 and 1990 and one published in 2014. The studies were carried out in hospital settings in China, Denmark, Belgium, and the UK. Six studies provided six comparisons. Due to the heterogeneity of studies, it was not appropriate to conduct meta-analyses. Four studies evaluated the effectiveness of dextranomer beads/paste; however, each study used a different comparator (Eusol-soaked dressings, 10% aqueous polyvinylpyrrolidone, 0.1% chloramine-soaked packs, and silicone foam elastomer dressing). One study compared streptokinase/streptodornase with saline-soaked dressings, and one compared endoscopic surgical debridement with conventional 'open' surgical debridement. Five studies reported time to complete debridement (reported as time to a clean wound bed) and three reported time to complete healing. One study reported effect estimates (surgical debridement via endoscopy versus surgical debridement) for time to a clean wound bed and time to complete wound healing, and it was possible to calculate effect estimates for one other study (dextranomer paste versus silicone foam elastomer) for time to complete wound healing. For the other four studies that did not report effect estimates, it was not possible to calculate time to a clean wound bed or time to complete wound healing due to missing variance and participant exclusions. None of the included studies reported outcomes pertaining to proportion of wounds completely healed, rate of reduction in wound size, rate of infection, or quality of life. All studies had unclear or high risk of bias for at least one key domain. Dextranomer paste/beads (autolytic debridement) compared with four different comparators Four studies compared dextranomer paste or beads with Eusol-soaked gauze (20 participants), 10% aqueous polyvinylpyrrolidone (40 participants), 0.1% chloramine-soaked dressings (28 participants), or silicone foam elastomer (50 participants). There is very low-certainty evidence that there may be no clear difference in time to a clean wound bed between dextranomer beads and Eusol gauze. The study did not report adverse events. There is very low-certainty evidence that there may be no difference in time to a clean wound bed between dextranomer paste and 10% aqueous polyvinylpyrrolidone gauze. There was low-certainty evidence that there may be no difference in deaths and serious adverse events. There may be a difference in time until the wounds were clinically clean and time to complete wound healing between dextranomer paste and 0.1% chloramine favouring 0.1% chloramine, but we are very uncertain. There is low-certainty evidence that there may be no difference in deaths and serious adverse events. There is very low-certainty evidence that there may be no difference in time to complete healing between dextranomer beads and silicone foam elastomer. The study did not report adverse events. Streptokinase/streptodornase solution (enzymatic) compared with saline-soaked dressings One study (21 participants) compared enzymatic debridement with saline-soaked dressings. There is low-certainty evidence that there may be no difference in time to a clean wound bed or secondary suture between streptokinase/streptodornase and saline-soaked dressings. There is very low-certainty evidence that there may be no difference in deaths and serious adverse events. Surgical debridement via endoscopic ('keyhole') surgery compared with surgical debridement by 'open' surgery (the wound is opened using a scalpel) One study (106 participants) reported time to complete wound healing and time to a clean wound bed. There is low-certainty evidence that there may be a reduction in time to complete wound healing and very low-certainty evidence that there may be no difference in time to a clean wound bed with surgical debridement via endoscopy compared to 'open' surgical debridement. The study did not report adverse events. Overall, the evidence was low to very low-certainty for all outcomes. Five included studies were published before 1991 and investigated treatments that are no longer available. Worldwide production of dextranomer products has been discontinued, except for dextranomer paste, which is currently only available in South Africa. Furthermore, Eusol, used in one study as the comparator to dextranomer, is rarely used due to risk of harmful effects on healthy tissue and the enzymatic agent streptokinase/streptodornase is no longer available worldwide.
AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
Evidence for the effects of different methods of debridement on complete wound debridement and healing of surgical wounds remains unclear. Adequately powered, methodologically robust RCTs evaluating contemporary debridement interventions for surgical wounds are needed to guide clinical decision-making.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Child; Child, Preschool; Humans; Middle Aged; Young Adult; Bandages; Bias; Debridement; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Surgical Wound; Surgical Wound Infection; Time Factors; Wound Healing
PubMed: 38712723
DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD006214.pub5 -
The French Journal of Urology Jun 2024To analyze the evolutionary trends concerning vasectomy over the last 8 years in order to better understand the situation and identify measures to be implemented to...
OBJECTIVES
To analyze the evolutionary trends concerning vasectomy over the last 8 years in order to better understand the situation and identify measures to be implemented to develop this activity.
METHODS
The number of vasectomy procedures performed between 2015 and 2022 was extracted from the Open CCAM file compiled from the national database of the Programme de médicalisation du système d'informations français (PMSI).
RESULTS
Over the period 2015-2022, the number of vasectomy procedures increased from 3743 in 2015 to 29,890 in 2022. This increase was observed in all French metropolitan and overseas regions. The number of minimally invasive vasectomies (notably without scalpel) rose sharply, from 313 to 7760. Almost all vasectomies were performed during outpatient hospitalization (0 nights), with fewer than 300 acts reported/year in outpatient care.
CONCLUSION
In France, vasectomy is becoming an increasingly frequent contraceptive method. This analysis is in line with recent surveys carried out in France, and tends to prove that more and more couples of childbearing age are in favour of sharing the contraceptive burden.
Topics: Vasectomy; Humans; France; Male; Adult; Middle Aged; Ambulatory Surgical Procedures
PubMed: 38697266
DOI: 10.1016/j.fjurol.2024.102640 -
Journal of Orthopaedic Case Reports Apr 2024Ankylosing spondylitis is a spondyloarthropathy that commonly involves the axial skeleton with predilection to the sacro-iliac joints and spine. The disease frequently...
INTRODUCTION
Ankylosing spondylitis is a spondyloarthropathy that commonly involves the axial skeleton with predilection to the sacro-iliac joints and spine. The disease frequently results in a smooth globular kyphotic deformity of the spine; however, a coronal plane scoliotic deformity is extremely rare. We present a unique case of scoliotic deformity in a patient diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis. To the best of our knowledge, following a review of the literature, this appears to be the first report of this kind.
CASE REPORT
A 23-year-old male patient presented with chronic back pain, stiffness, and a truncal shift of the body. He had a rigid left-sided thoracolumbar curve measuring 41° with a coronal imbalance of 3.6 cm. We present a case report on scoliosis deformity correction performed with a four-level asymmetric pontes osteotomy using a bone scalpel with excellent correction of the scoliotic deformity that was well maintained at 2-year follow-up.
CONCLUSION
Scoliosis in ankylosing spondylitis has not been documented in literature. We report the complete correction of the deformity, which is well maintained at the 2-year follow-up.
PubMed: 38681911
DOI: 10.13107/jocr.2024.v14.i04.4398 -
American Journal of Infection Control Apr 2024Robot-assisted total joint arthroplasty (robotic-TJA) has become more widespread over the last 20 years due to higher patient satisfaction and reduced complications....
BACKGROUND
Robot-assisted total joint arthroplasty (robotic-TJA) has become more widespread over the last 20 years due to higher patient satisfaction and reduced complications. However, robotic TJA may have longer operative times and increased operating room traffic, which are known risk factors for contamination events. Contamination of surgical instruments may be contact- or airborne-related with documented scalpel blade contamination rates up to 9%. The robot arm is a novel instrument that comes in and out of the surgical field, so our objective was to assess whether the robot arm is a source of contamination when used in robotic TJA compared to other surgical instruments.
METHODS
This was a prospective, single-institution, single-surgeon pilot study involving 103 robotic TJAs. The robot arm was swabbed prior to incision and after closure. Pre- and postoperative control swabs were also collected from the suction tip and scalpel blade. Swabs were incubated for 24 hours on tryptic soy agar followed by inspection for growth of any contaminating bacteria.
RESULTS
A contamination event was detected in 10 cases (10%). The scalpel blade was the most common site of contamination (8%) followed by the robot arm (2%) and suction tip (0%).
DISCUSSION
Robotic TJA is contaminated with bacteria at a rate around 10%. Although the robot arm is an additional source of potential contamination, the robot arm accrues bacterial contamination infrequently compared to the scalpel blade.
CONCLUSION
Contamination of the robot arm during robotic TJA is minimal when compared to contamination of the scalpel blade.
PubMed: 38663453
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2024.04.008 -
Lasers in Medical Science Apr 2024Nasal mucosa tumors are an uncommon process and very dificult to work on with surgery. Radiotherapy associated or not with chemotherapy is the standard method to treat...
Nasal mucosa tumors are an uncommon process and very dificult to work on with surgery. Radiotherapy associated or not with chemotherapy is the standard method to treat the disease. However, its access it is in the majority of the case not possible, making the surgery the best choice to try to achieve the patient's control. The anatomy of the region makes the complete surgical resection very difficult to achieve using the common and conventional blade scalpel surgery. The study features the advantages of using a CO laser to perform nasal mucosa carcinoma surgery in 6 dogs (N = 6). For the work we used an Aesculigth CO surgical laser model -Vetscalpel®, with the settings of 12Watts in a Superpulse mode, and a 0.25-0.4 mm focus to dissect the nasal mucosa, and a 1.5 mm focus for vaporization of the area. All the masses were histopathologically characterized as squamous cells carcinoma. The CO surgical laser allow us to work in a bloodless region promoting a more accurate dissection of the nasal mucosa sparing therefore the underlying and adjacent tissues and being less invasive. Also, it was possible to do the vaporization of the entire surgical area interviened. None of the patients presented relapse of clinical signs. Only 2 individuals were alive at the end of the study, presenting a survival rate of 420 and 514 days, which is in the same line of literature results of the treatment with radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy wich shows a median of 474-580 days. The study demonstrates successful outcomes with CO laser surgery in treating nasal mucosa SCC in dogs, with patients experiencing improved survival rates compared to traditional treatment methods. This highlights the efficacy and potential of CO laser surgery as a valuable tool in managing aggressive nasal tumors in veterinary oncology.
Topics: Dogs; Animals; Lasers, Gas; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Prospective Studies; Nasal Mucosa; Nose Neoplasms; Dog Diseases; Male; Female; Laser Therapy
PubMed: 38662131
DOI: 10.1007/s10103-024-04059-2 -
Oral leukoplakia treated with laser and scalpel: Interim trial results of recurrence and malignancy.Oral Diseases Apr 2024
PubMed: 38654673
DOI: 10.1111/odi.14961