Ultrasonographic imaging of mycetoma.

INTRODUCTION: The ultrasonographic appearance of mycetoma is described in this prospective study. METHODS: One hundred patients with foot swellings had sonographic evaluation of the swelling and surgical excision within 2 weeks of ultrasonography. The histopathological findings were compared with the preoperative images. Some of the excised swellings and grains were also imaged and compared with the in vivo findings. RESULTS: The mycetoma grains, their capsules and the accompanying inflammatory granulomas have characteristic ultrasonographic appearances. In eumycetoma lesions, the grains produce numerous, sharp hyper-reflective echoes and there are single or multiple thick-walled cavities with no acoustic enhancement. In actinomycetoma, the findings are similar but the hyper-reflective echoes are fine, closely aggregated and commonly settle at the bottom of the cavities. None of the non-mycetoma foot swellings (which included lipoma, ganglion, foreign body granuloma and others) studied had these features. CONCLUSION: Ultrasonography is simple, non-invasive, quick, reproducible and acceptable to patients. Mycetoma has characteristic ultrasonographic features. Furthermore, ultrasonography delineates the extent of mycetoma more accurately than clinical examination alone.

Intestinal obstruction in Khartoum.

The pattern of intestinal obstruction at Khartoum Teaching Hospital was reviewed in this study which included 239 patients. 170 of them were males and 68 were females. Their ages ranged from two days to 95 years (mean 31.4 +/- 5.3 years). The commonest causes of intestinal obstruction were strangulated external hernias (27.7%), intestinal adhesions (21%), intussusception (12%) and sigmoid volvulus (11%). Less frequent causes were paralytic ileus, large bowel tumours, peritoneal bands and Hirschsprung's disease. Of the strangulated hernias, inguinal hernia (70%) was the most frequent type of hernia seen, followed by paraumbilical hernia (20%). Previous appendicectomy (40%) and laparotomy for abdominal trauma (20%) were the commonest causes of adhesive intestinal obstruction. The mortality rate of intestinal obstruction was 19.7%. This high mortality is attributed to delayed presentation, fluid and electrolyte imbalance, intestinal ischaemia and gangrene. This could be minimised by health education, adequate preoperative preparation, meticulous surgical technique and good postoperative care.

Aspiration sclerotherapy for hydroceles in the tropics.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the usefulness of aspiration sclerotherapy in the treatment of hydroceles in the tropics. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This prospective study included 82 patients with 94 primary vaginal hydroceles of which 62 hydroceles were treated by aspiration and tetracycline hydrochloride sclerotherapy as an outpatient procedure (mean age of patients 56.5 years, range 40-82) and 28 were treated surgically and included as controls (mean age 52.4 years, range 40-70). All patients were followed for a year. RESULTS: In the sclerotherapy group, the overall cure rate after a year was 95%. Few complications were encountered in this group: six patients (10%) experienced pain during the procedure, seven patients (12%) had local infection and three patients (5%) developed haematoma. No recurrence was encountered in the surgical group, seven patients (25%) had infection and two patients (7%) developed haematoma. The mean hospital stay for the surgical group was 3.4 +/- 1.3 days (range 1-7). Four patients with thick-walled hydroceles had persistent swelling after sclerotherapy, the recurrence of which dissatisfied the patients. CONCLUSIONS: Aspiration sclerotherapy for thin-walled hydroceles proved to be a curative, simple, safe and cost-effective out-patient procedure. It can be an alternative to surgery in developing countries where resources are limited.

Metronidazole prophylaxis in acute mural appendicitis: failure of a single intra-operative infusion to reduce wound infection.

The efficacy of a single 500 mg intravenous intra-operative dose of metronidazole in the prevention of postoperative wound infection, following appendicectomy for acute mural appendicitis, was studied in a prospective randomized placebo controlled trial. Fourteen of the 96 patients (14.6%) in the metronidazole group and 13 of the 94 in the placebo group (13.8%) developed postoperative wound infection. Late sepsis was noted in 4 out of the 96 patients in the metronidazole group and in one of the 94 patients in the placebo group. This study suggests that a single intra-operative dose of metronidazole dose not reduce the incidence of postoperative wound infection following appendicectomy for acute mural appendicitis.