Acute colonic pseudo-obstruction in a burn patient.

Acute colonic pseudo-obstruction as a syndrome was first described by Ogilvie in 1948 (Br. Med J. 2, 671). It is characterized by colonic dilatation with no mechanical cause which affects critically ill patients. As a result of this complication the prognosis worsens. Initially there are few clinical symptoms, but subsequently colonic obstruction develops which, if not treated, can cause perforation of the caecum resulting in a high mortality rate. The treatment includes decompression via rectal and nasogastric probes, colonoscopy and caecostomy.

Torula glabrata: a severe and rare complication in patients suffering from burns.

Fungal infections are assuming a more prominent role in the sepsis of patients with burns. Torula glabrata (Candida glabrata) is a fungus increasingly found in immunosuppressed patients. This report describes a seriously burned patient who developed a torula infection in the lungs.