Eccrine tumours of the hand: two cases.

Two cases of eccrine tumour of sweat gland origin found in the hand are presented. They were non-tender rounded masses of eight months to two years duration, beneath and adherent to the epidermis but movable on underlying tissue. The pre-operative diagnosis in each case was that of a sebaceous cyst. Histology revealed one to be an eccrine spiradenoma and the other a chondroid syringoma. The lesions were considered unusual in that such tumours usually occur on the trunk, head and back and are rarely found in the hand.

Single dose intra-rectal metronidazole as prophylaxis against wound infection following emergency appendicectomy.

A prospective placebo controlled randomized trial was carried out in 104 patients with a presumptive diagnosis of acute appendicitis. A single dose of 1 g of metronidazole was given intra-rectally 1 h preoperatively. There were 16 wound infections, 15 (out of 50) in the placebo group, 1 (out of 54) in the metronidazole group. This study supports the already accepted value of metronidazole but suggests that a single intra-rectal dose regimen is adequate for prophylaxis.