Automated blood volume estimation in surgical drains for clinical decision support.

OBJECTIVE: Monitoring Jackson Pratt and Hemovac drains plays a crucial role in assessing a patient's recovery and identifying potential postoperative complications. Accurate and regular monitoring of the blood volume in the drain is essential for making decisions about patient care. However, transferring blood to a measuring cup and recording it is a challenging task for both patients and doctors, exposing them to bloodborne pathogens such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV). To automate the recording process with a non-contact approach, we propose an innovative approach that utilizes deep learning techniques to detect a drain in a photograph, compute the blood level in the drain, estimate the blood volume, and display the results on both web and mobile interfaces. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our system employs semantic segmentation on images taken with mobile phones to effectively isolate the blood-filled portion of the drain from the rest of the image and compute the blood volume. These results are then sent to mobile and web applications for convenient access. To validate the accuracy and effectiveness of our system, we collected the Drain Dataset, which consists of 1,004 images taken under various background and lighting conditions. RESULTS: With an average error rate of less than 5% in milliliters, our proposed approach achieves highly accurate blood level detection and estimation, as demonstrated by our trials on this dataset. The system also exhibits robustness to variations in lighting conditions and drain shapes, ensuring its applicability in different clinical scenarios. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed automated blood volume estimation system can significantly reduce the time and effort required for manual measurements, enabling healthcare professionals to focus on other critical tasks. The dataset and annotations are available at: https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/ayenahin/liquid-volume-detection-from-drain-images and the code for the web application is available at https://github.com/itsjustaplant/AwesomeProject.git.

Results of Allografts and Synthetic Grafts in Humeral Simple Bone Cysts.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: Simple bone cysts (SBCs) are the most common benign bone lesions in childhood. There are many different methods in the treatment of SBCs. There is no consensus on which method to use in the treatment. In this study, we compared the results of allogeneic bone graft or synthetic bone graft in addition to fl exible intramedullary nail (FIN) for SBC located in the humerus. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This retrospective study comparing the data of 19 (group 1: 8 curettage, allograft and FIN; group 2: 11 curettage, synthetic graft and FIN) patients with a mean age of 11.4 (6 to 26; seven female, twelve male) who were surgically treated in our hospital for humeral SBC between April 2014 and January 2020. Patient data included age, sex, anatomical side, stage of the cyst, pathological fracture, previous treatments and complications. RESULTS: The mean follow-up period was 33.7 months (12 to 61). The average last follow-up Musculoskeletal Tumor Society functional scores for groups 1 and 2 were 27.8 (20 to 30) and 28.6 (21 to 30) (P > 0.05). Complete or signifi cant partial radiographic healing rates were achieved in group 1 (75%) compared with group 2 (81.9%). The reoperation rates for groups 1 and 2 were 62.5% (5/8; three for nails removed, two for recurrence) and 36.3% (4/11; two for nails removed, two for recurrence). One patient in group 2 had a 15° varus deformity due to recurrence. No other complications were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of curettage-grafonage FIN is a common treatment method in recent years, as it provides early cyst healing and limb mobilization in SBCs located in the upper extremity. For defects after curettage of the bone cysts, allogeneic or synthetic grafts (granule b-tricalcium phospate) which have similar results in terms of healing can be used as an alternative to each other. KEY WORDS: allografts, bone cysts, bone nails, synthetic grafts, humerus.

Can cardiac surgery be performed safely on patients with haematological malignancies.

INTRODUCTION: Surgical strategy in patients with haematological malignancies must be planned and carried out with the specific aim of decreasing postoperative complications. The aim of this study was to present our experience on patients previously diagnosed with haematological malignancies who subsequently underwent cardiac surgery. We include data to assist other surgeons predict factors affecting postoperative morbidity and mortality in this group of patients. METHODS: Fifteen patients diagnosed with haematological malignancies who had cardiac surgery were retrospectively analysed. Eight patients had chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, six had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and the rest had chronic myelocytic leukaemia. Coronary artery bypass graft surgery was performed on all of them. RESULTS: There were no hospital mortalities. The average follow-up period was 35 ± 11 (23-56) months. Three patients required early postoperative re-operation because of excessive bleeding. No mortalities were seen in the early postoperative period. There were five (33%) deaths during the late follow-up period. Three patients were lost due to intracranial bleeding (confirmed by autopsy) in the 16th, 23rd and 38th months after surgery. The remaining two patients had sudden death in the eighth and 55th months from nondetectable causes. CONCLUSION: Cardiac surgery can be performed with acceptable early postoperative outcomes in patients with haematological malignancies. Intracranial bleeding is an important factor contributing to late mortality and patient selection and risk stratification are crucial to improving surgical benefits.

A rare complication after coronary artery bypass graft surgery: Ogilvie's syndrome.

Gastrointestinal (GI) complications occur in less than 2% of patients undergoing open-heart surgery. Acute colonic pseudo-obstruction, known as Ogilvie's syndrome, is also a rare complication encountered in 0.046% of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery. It is characterised by massive colonic dilatation without mechanical obstruction in patients with underlying medical or surgical conditions. In this report we describe a patient who suffered from acute renal failure requiring haemodialysis, and subsequently Ogilvie's syndrome, which was treated with high-dose neostigmine.

Results of combined preoperative direct percutaneous embolization and surgical excision in treatment of carotid body tumors.

BACKGROUND: Carotid body tumors are infrequent neoplasms in daily practice. Diagnostic difficulties exist because of their slow growth and asymptomatic progress. The surgical treatment is complicated and difficult due to their proximity to vascular and neural structures. In this study we present the results of 12 patients operated for carotid body tumor that underwent preoperative percutaneous direct embolization. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The data of 12 patients, diagnosed with carotid body tumor and surgically treated at our department between 2000 and 2010, was retrospectively analyzed. Duplex ultrasound, computerized tomography and selective carotid angiography were the applied diagnostic tools. Two days before the planned surgery all patients underwent percutaneous direct embolization to achieve devascularization of the tumor. Afterwards, surgical excision of the mass under general anesthesia was performed in all cases. RESULTS: Five tumors were classified as Shamblin type I (41.7%), and the others were type II (58.3%). All masses were removed sub-adventitially and no vascular reconstruction was necessary. There was no mortality and no permanent neural damage. Malfunction of the tongue was observed in only one case, which recovered completely in one month. There was one recurrence detected by Duplex ultrasound and angiography during the follow up period. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical excision is mandatory to be performed as soon as diagnosed in carotid body tumors. Preoperative direct percutaneous embolization of the mass helps to devascurize the tumor, enabling an optimal surgical procedure. The outcomes of such a combined intervention are excellent and neurovascular structure preservation decreases complication and morbidity rates.

Mitral valve replacement in a patient with situs inversus and dextrocardia.

Dextrocardia is a rarely seen cardiac malposition, often associated with multiple and complex congenital cardiac anomalies. Valve surgery for acquired valvular lesions in dextrocardia with situs inversus is rare. A 65-year-old man was admitted to our department with palpitation and dyspnea. Chest X-ray showed dextrocardia, and echocardiography revealed severe mitral regurgitation due to rheumatic valve degeneration. Prosthetic mitral valve replacement using a transseptal approach via a median sternotomy was successfully performed in the patient.

Repair of sternal dehiscence with titanium mesh plates: the sandwich technique.

Sternal dehiscence after cardiac surgery occurs infrequently and can lead to mediastinitis and prolonged hospital stay and may even result in death. The most common treatment for mechanical sternal instability is rewiring with wound debridement. We present a case in which a modified titanium mesh plate fixation technique was used. A safe and easy to perform technique, this method can be an alternative option to wire closure in a sternum with fractures, instability or poor bone quality.

Sexual functions and quality of life in women with tubal sterilization.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the sexual functions and quality of life of women who have undergone tubal sterilization after tubal surgery. In all, 90 active premenopausal women, who had undergone tubal sterilization at least 1 year ago and been admitted to four different hospitals, were included in the study group. A total of 100 women at a similar age range, admitted to the same four hospitals for routine health controls, were included in the control group. To obtain sexual function assessments, the patients were asked to fill out Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) questionnaire. The participants were also asked to fill out Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF-36) questionnaire. All values were found to be lower in the tubal sterilization (TS) group and the differences between groups were statistically significant in domain except for pain and lubrication. Similarly, in the analysis of SF-36 scores, there were differences in comparison with the TS group in all domains. In the evaluation of the relationship of FSFI with educational level in the TS group, it was found that, while the educational level increased, all domain scores also increased, and this increase was statistically significant in all domains except pain. The termination of fertility, which is one of the important abilities of women, with tubal sterilization, may be a risk factor for female sexual dysfunction in people with low educational levels.