ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: CREATING NEW PARADIGMS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES.

The role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in medical science is growing immensely. Since AI contains features that can address both preventive and therapeutic aspects of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), it can potentially lessen the massive burden of morbidity and mortality associated with NCDs. AI can help in various ways in NCDs including predicting disease occurrence, monitoring, ensuring treatment and follow-up of patients. Low- and middle-income countries can harness the benefit of AI for the management of chronic diseases and effectively address challenges like manpower shortage, accessibility to health care, etc. However, AI needs to be used responsibly and rationally in NCDs for its maximum benefit.

Practice and short-term outcomes in ventral hernia repair: a prospective multicenter data audit of Indian Association of Gastrointestinal Endo Surgeons Research Collaborative.

INTRODUCTION: There is considerable variation in the practice of ventral hernia repair (VHR). Consequently, both short- and long-term outcomes are different. We report the first multicenter data from India on the variations in procedures and short-term outcomes after ventral hernia repair. METHODS: A prospective study was planned under the aegis of the Indian Association of Gastrointestinal Endo Surgeons (IAGES). Participating surgeons prospectively recorded the data of patients who underwent VHR from January 21, 2021, to April 20, 2021. Patients were followed for 3-6 months. RESULTS: Data from 648 patients were analyzed for demographics, hernia characteristics, technical variations, and outcomes. 375 (57.8%) were primary hernias (PH) and 273 (42.15%) were incisional hernias (IH), of which 63 (9.7%) were recurrent hernias. In the PH group, there were 171 minimal access (MAS) and 170 open repair. In descending order of frequency, there were 111 (32.6%) open onlay, 83 (24.3%) intraperitoneal onlay meshplasty (IPOM) Plus, 36 (10.6%) IPOM, 35 (10.3%) suture repair, 22 (6.5%) endoscopic Rives Stoppa (eRS), 11 (3.2%) open RS, 11 (3.2%) TAPP, 7 (2%) hybrid, 6 (1.8%) open preperitoneal, 19 (5.6%) others. There were 3.73% seroma, 3.2% SSI, 0% 90-day readmission, 0% recurrence, and 0.3% mortality. In the IH group, 164 patients underwent open repair and 104 MAS repair. In descending order of frequency, there were 90 (33.6%) open onlay, 47 (17.5%) IPOM Plus, 38 (14.1%) open sublay, 28 (10.4%) IPOM, 12 (4.5%) Transversus Abdominis Release (TAR), 11 (4.1%) suture repair, 9 (3.4%) open preperitoneal, 7 (2.6%) hybrid, 6 (2.2%) TAPP, 5 (1.9%) eRS, 4 (1.5%) TARM, 3 (1.1%) endoscopic TAR (eTAR), and 8 (3%) others. There were 13.92% seroma, 4.4% hematoma, 9.5% SSI, 1.1% mesh explantation, 0.4% wound sinus, 2.2% 90-day readmission, 0% recurrence, and 1.1% mortality. CONCLUSION: Onlay meshplasty is the commonest procedure in India both in PH and IH. IPOM/IPOM plus is the second commonest procedure. TAR is the preferred component separation technique. Complication rates were comparable to published literature. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered with Clinical Trial Registry of India. CTRI number-CTRI/2021/01/030435.

Maternal and socio-demographic determinants of low birth weight (LBW): A community-based study in a rural block of Assam.

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE: Low birth weight (LBW) leads to high neonatal and infant deaths. There is also high prevalence of childhood morbidities and mortalities that are consequences of LBW. OBJECTIVES: To find out the prevalence of LBW babies among the study population and to find out the effect of certain maternal and socio-demographic characteristics on birth weight. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out in a rural block of Assam. Cluster sampling was done to choose 30 villages and 15 infants were selected randomly from each village to get a sample size of 450. RESULTS: Prevalence of LBW was found to be 21.8%. Percentage of LBW babies was more among the teenage mothers (36%) and primipara mothers (27%). Maternal anemia [odds ratio (OR) 1.93; confidence interval (CI) 1.3-2.9], short interpregnancy interval (OR 3.93; CI 2.16-7.13), and teenage pregnancy (OR 3.93; CI 2.16-6.45) were found to be the independent risk factors associated with LBW of the babies. DISCUSSION: The study findings indicated the high prevalence of LBW babies in rural areas of Assam and illiterate teenage mothers, grand multipara, anemic mothers, and short interpregnancy intervals were the important risk factors for LBW.