Postoperative Bowel Obstruction as a Rare Complication of an Abdominal Drain.

Although routine intra-abdominal drain insertion following surgery represents a common practice worldwide, its utility has been questioned during the last decades. Several comparative studies have failed to document significant benefits from routine draining, and drain insertion has been correlated with various complications as well. Drain-related complications include, but are not limited, to infection, bleeding, and tissue erosion. Herein, we present the case of a 32-year-old patient with perforated peptic ulcer and purulent peritonitis, whose postoperative course was complicated by early mechanical bowel obstruction due to an abdominal drain. A high level of clinical suspicion, along with accurate imaging diagnosis, dictated prompt removal of the drain, which resulted in immediate resolution of the patient's symptoms. We aim to increase the clinical awareness of this rare complication related to intra-abdominal drain utilization with this report.

Spinal cord compression in an adolescent with relapsed B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia and mental neuropathy.

The authors report a case of intraspinal mass associated with recurrence of B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia in an adolescent male who presented with numb chin syndrome at initial diagnosis of the leukemia. The patient developed sensory changes, later on motor weakness, and eventually paraplegia. An emergent MRI scan showed an intraspinal mass at the level of T9 vertebra. Biopsy obtained during laminectomy revealed a mass composed of lymphoblasts immunophenotypically identical to the patient's known leukemia. Surgical decompression and dexamethasone were ineffective in restoration of the neurological deficits. Intraspinal extramedullary relapses should be considered in the differential diagnosis of leukemic patients with neurological symptoms.