Publications in Plastic Surgery and Reconstruction: A Review from a Developing Country, Sudan.

Background: Plastic and reconstructive surgery services need to be improved in developing African countries. Research and article publications from those countries are limited. This review was conducted to identify published articles from Sudan in the area of plastic and reconstructive surgery. Methods: This review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis guidelines. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis guidelines were used for the preparation of this systematic review. A comprehensive systematic search was performed using PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science databases. Articles published in Sudan, specifically in the area of plastic and reconstructive surgery, and written in English were included in this review. Results: The total number of articles that fulfilled the inclusion criteria was 23. The articles were written from 1969 to 2023. Only two articles were published in the 20th century. The most common study type was a retrospective study of eight articles, and the most common study area was Khartoum Teaching Hospital. Regarding the publishing journals, the number of subscription journals was six (30%), whereas open access was 17 (70%). Conclusion: This review demonstrates the lack of articles published on plastic surgery in Sudan. Further investigation is needed to determine the challenges and problems associated with possible clarifications.

A complicated chinese herbal medicine nephrotoxicity.

Chinese herbal medicine is widely used globally. In many instances, it is associated with severe adverse outcomes. We report case of a Chinese herbal nephropathy occurring in a 43-year-old woman showing renal impairment, metabolic acidosis, Stokes - Adams syndrome, hypernatremia, and hypokalemia, characteristics not usually encountered in published cases.

[Medical malpractice in the treatment of carpometacarpal osteoarthritis of the thumb - An analysis of data provided by the Arbitration Board for Medical Liability Issues of North Germany]. / Behandlungsfehler bei der Therapie der Rhizarthrose ­ Eine Analyse der Daten der Norddeutschen Schlichtungsstelle für Arzthaftpflichtfragen.

BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis of the first carpometacarpal (CMC) joint, also known as rhizarthrosis, is one of the most common diseases of the hand. Multiple medical and paramedical disciplines can be involved in the treatment. Interventional and surgical treatments may have a risk of complications and thus also of medical malpractice. In this paper, cases of medical malpractice in treatments of rhizarthrosis were analysed, in order to evaluate the quality of medical care. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Cases of medical malpractice with the diagnosis "Rhizarthrosis" (ICD-10 M18) from 2010 until 2018 were provided by the Arbitration Board for Medical Liability Issues of the Medical Associations of North Germany. The cases were allocated according to the medical specialty of the attending physician. Cases with verified medical malpractice were further evaluated and statistically analysed. RESULTS: 44 cases with purported medical malpractice were found over a period of 9 years. In 16 of these cases, medical malpractice was verified (36.4 %): hand surgeons 8 of 24 (30.0 %), trauma and orthopaedic surgeons 6 of 14 (42.9 %), plastic surgeons 1 of 2 (50.0 %), general surgeons 1 of 1 (100.0 %) and 0 of 1 (0.0 %) each in the specialties of diagnostic radiology, radiation therapy and anaesthesiology. Surgeons with specialisation in hand surgery were responsible for 30.0 % (8 of 24) cases of verified malpractice, compared to 47.1 % (8 of 17) cases in other surgeons without this specialisation (p = 0.286). CONCLUSIONS: As surgical procedures for the treatment of rhizarthrosis are among the most common hand surgeries, the data shows that the treatment of rhizarthrosis in Germany is safe and has a very low rate of medical errors. Furthermore, medical malpractice in these cases is less frequent in surgeons with a specialisation in hand surgery compared to surgeons without this specialisation.