Midwives' approach to the prevention and repair of obstetric perineal trauma in Spain.

AIM: Different clinical practice guidelines include recommendations on how to prevent and repair obstetric perineal trauma, as well as the use of episiotomy. To evaluate the variability in midwives' professional practices for preventing and repairing perineal trauma, as well as the professional factors that may be associated with the restrictive use of episiotomy. DESIGN: Observational cross-sectional study. METHODS: Three hundred five midwives completed an anonymous questionnaire developed by the authors and distributed across various midwifery scientific societies. The main outcomes measured were the frequencies of adopting specific practices related to perineal injury prevention and repair, episiotomy technique and restrictive episiotomy use (<10%). Odds ratios (OR) and adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals were estimated. RESULTS: Intrapartum perineal massage was not normally used by 253 (83%) of midwives, and 186 (61%) applied compresses soaked in warm water to the perineum. Regarding episiotomy, there was a great deal of variability, noting that 129 (42.3%) adopted a restrictive use of this procedure, 125 (41%) performed it between 10% and 20%, while 51 midwives (16.7%) performed it in more than 20% of cases. In addition, 165 (54.1%) midwives followed an incision angle of 60º. Concerning tears, 155 (50.8%) usually sutured first-degree tears and 273 (89.5%) always sutured second-degree tears. Midwives attending home births (aOR = 6.5; 95% CI: 2.69-15.69), working at a teaching hospital (aOR = 3.69; 95% CI: 1.39-9.84), and the ones who recently completed their professional training (aOR = 3.58; 95% CI: 1.46-8.79) were significantly more likely to adopt a restrictive use of episiotomy. CONCLUSIONS: There is a significant variability in Spanish midwives' practices for preventing and repairing perineal tears. Moreover, the restrictive use of episiotomy is associated with midwives attending home births, working in teaching hospitals and having recent professional training. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No patient or public contribution.

Colorectal cancer metastases to the thyroid gland: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Secondary malignancies of the thyroid gland are a rare finding in clinical practice. In addition, colorectal metastasis to the thyroid (CMT) is even more infrequently diagnosed. The source of the primary tumor follows demographic and ethnic patterns, which reflects the most prevalent malignancies in the different populations. Colorectal cancer is one of the most common types of cancer worldwide; nevertheless, CMT is infrequently diagnosed. Most of them are identified during the follow-up of gastrointestinal primary malignancies. Due to the improvement of image techniques, oncological treatment, and follow-up, survival and consequent diagnosis of metastatic disease are more frequent. Those facts make this entity a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge, due to the lack of information and the difficulties performing clinical trials and research. CASE SUMMARY: Here, we present a case report of a patient diagnosed with CMT of adenocarcinoma of the rectum evidenced during follow-up, 4 years after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, who had subsequent curative surgical treatment of the primary tumor and inter-current lung bilateral metastases. CONCLUSION: Thyroid metastases of extra-thyroid origin are an uncommon finding, even rarer in cases of CMT. The diagnostic process, as well as survival of oncologic patients is improving, and consequently the number of metastases to the thyroid gland is increasing.