A case report of congenital ureteral stricture: Obstructed, hydronephrotic solitary kidney with cystic dysplastic changes.

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Congenital ureteral stricture is a rare cause of antenatal hydronephrosis. Early diagnosis and treatment is important to prevent progressive loss of renal function. CASE PRESENTATION: This is a case report a 5 month old infant with obstructed hydronephrotic solitary kidney detected during antenatal ultrasound. She was operated, and Intraoperative finding was proximal ureteric stricture and it was managed by pyeloplasty. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: Congenital anomalies of the urinary tract and kidney are the leading cause of end-stage renal disease in children. Congenital ureteral stricture is commonly misdiagnosed as ureteropelvic junction (UPJ) obstruction preoperatively. The most common location for congenital ureteral stricture is the mid ureter, but there are a few case reports of congenital ureteral stricture occurring in the proximal ureter. CONCLUSION: Ureteral stricture is usually associated with other urological anomalies such as, multi-cystic dysplastic kidney, mega ureter, and renal agenesis So diagnosis should not be delayed in such cases to prevent progressive loss of renal function, and end stage renal disease.

Scalability and Sustainability of a Surgical Infection Prevention Program in Low-Income Environments.

Importance: Surgical infections are a major cause of perioperative morbidity and mortality, particularly in low-resource settings. Clean Cut, a 6-month quality improvement program developed by the global nonprofit organization Lifebox, has demonstrated improvements in postoperative infectious complications. However, the pilot program required intense external programmatic and resource support. Objective: To examine the improvement in adherence to infection prevention and control standards and rates of postoperative infections in hospitals in the Clean Cut program after implementation strategies were updated and program execution was refined. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study evaluated and refined the Clean Cut implementation strategy to enhance scalability based on a qualitative study of its pilot phase, including formalizing programmatic and educational materials, building an automated data entry and analysis platform, and reorganizing hospital-based team composition. Clean Cut was introduced from January 1, 2019, to February 28, 2022, in 7 Ethiopian hospitals that had not previously participated in the program. Prospective data initiated on arrival in the operating room were collected, and patients were followed up through hospital discharge and with 30-day follow-up telephone calls. Exposure: Implementation of the refined Clean Cut program. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was surgical site infection (SSI); secondary outcomes were adherence to 6 infection prevention standards, mortality, hospital length of stay, and other infectious complications. Results: A total of 3364 patients (mean [SD] age, 26.5 [38.0] years; 2196 [65.3%] female) from 7 Ethiopian hospitals were studied (1575 at baseline and 1789 after intervention). After controlling for confounders, the relative risk of SSIs was reduced by 34.0% after program implementation (relative risk, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.54-0.81; P < .001). Appropriate Surgical Safety Checklist use increased from 16.3% to 43.0% (P < .001), surgeon hand and patient skin antisepsis improved from 46.0% to 66.0% (P < .001), and timely antibiotic administration improved from 17.8% to 39.0% (P < .001). Surgical instrument (38.7% vs 10.2%), linen sterility (35.5% vs 12.8%), and gauze counting (89.2% vs 82.5%; P < .001 for all comparisons) also improved significantly. Conclusions and Relevance: A modified implementation strategy for the Clean Cut program focusing on reduced external resource and programmatic input from Lifebox, structured education and training materials, and wider hospital engagement resulted in outcomes that matched our pilot study, with improved adherence to recognized infection prevention standards resulting in a reduction in SSIs. The demonstration of scalability reinforces the value of this SSI prevention program.

Bridging the know-do gap in low-income surgical environments: Creating contextually appropriate training videos to promote safer surgery in Ethiopia.

Although international guidelines exist for the prevention of surgical site infections, their implementation in diverse clinical contexts, especially in low and middle-income countries, is challenging due to the lack of available resources and organizational structure of facilities. The goal of this project was to develop a series of video training aids to highlight best practices in surgical infection prevention in hospitals with limited resources and to provide practical solutions to common challenges faced in these settings. Using the validated Clean Cut education framework for infection prevention developed by Lifebox, a charity devoted to improving surgical and anesthetic safety, we partnered with clinicians in one Ethiopian hospital to create six educational videos giving practical guidelines for infection prevention under resource variable conditions. These include: 1) proper use of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist, 2) hand and skin antisepsis, 3) confirming instrument sterility, 4) maintaining the sterile field, 5) antibiotic prophylaxis, and 6) gauze counting. Gaps in available online educational materials were identified in each of the six areas. Videos were created providing setting-specific education and addressing gaps in existing materials for each of the infection prevention topics. These videos are now integrated into infection prevention curricula through Lifebox in Ethiopia and ongoing data collection to evaluate acceptability and efficacy is ongoing. Surgical education videos on infection prevention topics addressing location-specific resources and workarounds can be useful to hospitals operating in resource-limited settings for training staff and supporting quality and safety efforts in surgery.

Hirschsprung disease managed with one-stage transanal endorectal pullthrough in a low-resource setting without frozen section.

BACKGROUND: Over the past few decades, surgery for Hirschsprung's disease (HD) has evolved into a minimally invasive, single-stage procedure with excellent outcomes. Intraoperative frozen section biopsy is critical for this procedure to avoid the potential risk of leaving a retained aganglionic segment. However, this facility is not available in most low-income countries. Therefore, a two-stage procedure with an initial colostomy is still practiced in the developing world. We aimed to evaluate the outcome of single-stage transanal pullthrough performed in a facility without frozen section biopsy. METHODS: A retrospective review of all patients who underwent transanal pullthrough in two teaching hospitals over a 6-year period (2015-2020). RESULTS: Forty-seven children underwent transanal endorectal pullthrough (TERPT). Age at surgery ranged from 2 months to 6 years and mean weight was 8.7 kg. Barium enema did not show transition zone in 6 patients (12.8%) while others demonstrated short segment HD. Intraoperatively, the transition zone was visualized in 40 patients (85%). TERPT alone was performed in 35 (74.5%), TERPT with laparotomy to visualize transition zone in 9 (26.7%) and TERPT with transabdominal mobilization was required in 3 (6.4%). Definitive histopathologic examination revealed aganglionic segment pullthrough in 4 (8.5%) and transitional zone pullthrough in another 4 (8.5%). However, with long term follow up all eight children remained asymptomatic and no intervention was required. CONCLUSIONS: Transanal pullthrough offers reduced number of surgeries and faster recovery. We have also observed a good functional outcome despite a discrepancy with pathology results. Overall, our data suggests it is a safe and viable option for the treatment of short segment HD in facilities where frozen section is not available.

Operating room efficiency in a low resource setting: a pilot study from a large tertiary referral center in Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: The operating room (OR) is one of the most expensive areas of a hospital, requiring large capital and recurring investments, and necessitating efficient throughput to reduce costs per patient encounter. On top of increasing costs, inefficient utilization of operating rooms results in prolonged waiting lists, high rate of cancellation, frustration of OR personnel as well as increased anxiety that negatively impacts the health of patients. This problem is magnified in developing countries, where there is a high unmet surgical need. However, no system currently exists to assess operating room utilization in Ethiopia. METHODOLOGY: A prospective study was conducted over a period of 3 months (May 1 to July 31, 2019) in a tertiary hospital. Surgical case start time, end time, room turnover time, cancellations and reason for cancellation were observed to evaluate the efficiency of eight operating rooms. RESULTS: A total of 933 elective procedures were observed during the study period. Of these, 246 were cancelled, yielding a cancellation rate of 35.8%. The most common reasons for cancellation were related to lack of OR time and patient preparation (8.7% and 7.7% respectively). Shortage of facilities (instrument, blood, ICU bed) were causes of cancelation in 7.7%. Start time was delayed in 93.4% (mean 8:56 am ± 52 min) of cases. Last case completion time was early in 47.9% and delayed in 20.6% (mean 2:54 pm ± 156 min). Turnover time was prolonged in 34.5% (mean 25 min ± 49 min). Total operating room utilization ranged from 10.5% to 174%. Operating rooms were underutilized in 42.7% while overutilization was found in 14.6%. CONCLUSION: We found a high cancellation rate, most attributable to late start times leading to delays for the remainder of cases, and lack of preoperative patient preparation. In a setting with a high unmet burden of surgical disease, OR efficiency must be maximized with improved patient evaluation workflows, adequate OR staffing and commitment to punctual start times. We recommend future quality improvement projects focusing on these areas to increase OR efficiency.

Outcome of Delayed Perineal Anastomotic Urethroplasty in Children with Post-Traumatic Urethral Stricture in a Tertiary Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Urethral stricture is a challenging urologic problem resulting from congenital, idiopathic, traumatic, iatrogenic,and inflammatory causes. Road traffic accidents and falling-down accidents are the most common traumatic causes. Although most management principles are extrapolated from adults, stricture in children has a unique anatomic challenge. The outcome of urethroplasty is reported to be good in nearly all patients according to different studies. Since there is no study from Ethiopia on this subject, our work will show our experience with the problem. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of children who underwent delayed urethroplasty for post-traumatic urethral stricture from November 2011 to November 2019. A retrospective study was conducted on boys for whom delayed perineal anastomotic urethroplasty was performed after they sustained trauma. Sociodemographic data, pre-operative presentation of patients, and intraoperative conditions were assessed. The need of any further procedure to micturate, stream of urine and urethral caliber on post-operative cystourethrography were parameters used to measure the outcome. Data were entered into SPSS version 24 and analyzed, taking a p-value of 0.05 as statistically significant. RESULTS: Nineteen boys had delayed perineal anastomotic urethroplasty in the study period, with a mean age at the time of surgery being 9.8 years. Out of these 19 patients, nine had been involved in road traffic accidents, eight had fallen from a height, and two had bullet injuries. The membranous urethra was the most commonly affected part and, in seven of them, associated pelvic bone fracture was documented. The affected urethral segment length ranged from 1-3 cm, with a mean of 1.77 cm. For all of them delayed perineal urethroplasty was performed after a minimum of 3 months. Successful outcome after primary surgery and re-do surgery was 58% and 82%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Urethral stricture is an uncommon condition in children but is one of the challenging conditions a pediatric urologist faces. Our study showed that perineal urethroplasty can be done safely in most children with urethral stricture, but unless adequate pre-operative evaluation and strict surgical principles are followed the outcome will be poor.

Outcome of PUV Patients Following Ablation in a Tertiary Teaching Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Posterior urethral valve  (PUV) is the most common cause of congenital lower urinary tract obstruction in boys. It is considered that early diagnosis and intervention have good outcomes in terms of renal function, though the varying extent of embryological insult requires these boys to remain in extended follow-up and care. OBJECTIVE: To assess the renal outcome of patients following PUV ablation. METHODS: This was a descriptive retrospective study. Data were collected from the operation logbooks of patients from 2015 to 2019 that had been admitted to the Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital pediatric surgery unit with a working diagnosis of PUV and had ablation done primarily or following diversion. Data were collected from January to April 2020 and analyzed using SPSS 25. P value≤0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Seventy patients were analyzed and followed for 3 years for the development of postoperative chronic kidney disease (CKD) after PUV ablation. Postoperative CKD was found in 52.9% of patients and end-stage renal disease in 2.9%. Risk factors associated with postoperative CKD were the presence of preoperative and postoperative proteinuria, postoperative hypertension, and elevated nadir serum creatinine. Results also showed that a delay between the development of vesicostomy and ablation had a significant correlation with renal outcome. Elevated nadir serum creatinine, postoperative proteinuria, and delay between the development of vesicostomy and ablation were found to be independent risk factors of development of CKD. CONCLUSION: There was a high rate of CKD development in patients who had had ablation for PUV, which was comparable to other studies. Three variables were found to be independent risk factors for the progression of CKD, unlike other findings seen in low- and middle-income countries.

We Asked the Experts: The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Recommendations for Content and Implementation Adaptations.

BACKGROUND: As surgical systems are forced to adapt and respond to new challenges, so should the patient safety tools within those systems. We sought to determine how the WHO SSC might best be adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: 18 Panelists from five continents and multiple clinical specialties participated in a three-round modified Delphi technique to identify potential recommendations, assess agreement with proposed recommendations and address items not meeting consensus. RESULTS: From an initial 29 recommendations identified in the first round, 12 were identified for inclusion in the second round. After discussion of recommendations without consensus for inclusion or exclusion, four additional recommendations were added for an eventual 16 recommendations. Nine of these recommendations were related to checklist content, while seven recommendations were related to implementation. CONCLUSIONS: This multinational panel has identified 16 recommendations for sites looking to use the surgical safety checklist during the COVID-19 pandemic. These recommendations provide an example of how the SSC can adapt to meet urgent and emerging needs of surgical systems by targeting important processes and encouraging critical discussions.

Two lucky survivors of thoracic impalement in childhood: case report and literature review.

BACKGROUND: Penetrating thoracic injuries are uncommon in childhood. Massive penetrating injury due to impalement is even more rare and has scarcely been reported. It has a dramatic clinical presentation and is often fatal, depending on the organs injured. CASE PRESENTATION: Two boys presented with an unusual mechanism of injury. They fell from a height to be impaled by a large stick. Appropriate emergency medical service was not available and surgery was delayed by more than 24 h after the accident. Both children were labelled "lucky" as they survived the injury without any significant sequelae. CONCLUSION: We discuss two new cases of pediatric thoracic impalement and perform the first literature review on the subject. Emphasis should be given to the initial care which comprises avoiding premature removal, rapid transport, resuscitation, anti-tetanus and antibiotics. All reported cases had a favorable outcome, even those managed within the constraints of low-income countries.

Hypospadias Repair in Ethiopia: A Five Year Review.

BACKGROUND: Hypospadias repair is one of the problematic issues in pediatric surgery. As a result of the multiple complications following the procedure, a variety of techniques have been used and newer methods continue to emerge. There is still controversy regarding the best method of repair. We aimed to determine the outcome of surgery and factors contributing to unfavorable outcomes in children with hypospadias. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective review undertaken from September 2009 to August 2014. The research was conducted at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. All children who underwent hypospadias repair and had regular follow-up were included in the study. RESULTS: A total of 202 boys aged less than 13 years were assessed. Most surgeries (80.3%) were performed in children older than 18 months. Transverse incised plate urethroplasty (TIP) was frequently performed for distal hypospadias (71.2 %), while transverse ventral preputal flap (TVPF) was the most common procedure done for proximal hypospadias (62.8 %). Overall success rate for first surgery was 55.9 %. There was a high rate of major post-operative complications (44.1%) of which urethrocutaneous fistula (UCF) was the most common (31.2%) followed by meatal stenosis and glans breakdown (7.4 % each). These complications were found to be higher in those who were operated at a later age and those with proximal hypospadias (p=0.03 and p=0.01 respectively). There was also a significant difference among the type of procedures with TIP and TVPF having the least complications (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: From our experience, we found TIP a relatively safe and reliable method of repair for distal hypospadias while TVPF single stage repair was superior in the proximal ones. The high rate of complications in our institution was associated with higher burden of severe hypospadias and older age at surgery.