Outcome of VVF repair without omental interposition.

OBJECTIVE: To find out the outcome in cases of vesicovaginal fistula repair. METHODS: The descriptive study was conducted at the District Headquarter Hospital, Timergara, Lower Dir, Pakistan, from November 1, 2011 to November 2013, and comprised all patients admitted in Urology unit with vesicovaginal fistula. Repair was done with either transabdominal or transvaginal approach. Repair technique involved good tissue separation, interrupted sutures, and no omental interposition. Follow-up was of three months. RESULTS: There were 30 patients available, but 2(6.6%) were excluded. Among the remaining 28(93.3%) patients dehiscence was not noted in any patient, while only 4(14.3%) patients developed mild urinary tract infection. There were no intraoperative or postoperative deaths. CONCLUSIONS: Transvaginal or Transabdominal repair of vesicovaginal fistula is successful treatment modality if good dissection and tissue separation is applied with interrupted suturing. Omental interposition is not essential for good healing.

Think small: nanotechnology for plastic surgeons.

The purpose of this article is to introduce the topic of nanotechnology to plastic surgeons and to discuss its relevance to medicine in general and plastic surgery in particular. Nanotechnology will be defined, and some important historical milestones discussed. Common applications of nanotechnology in various medical and surgical subspecialties will be reviewed. Future applications of nanotechnology to plastic surgery will be examined. Finally, the critical field of nanotoxicology and the safe use of nanotechnology in medicine and plastic surgery will be addressed.

Outcome of fixateur interne in thoracolumbar trauma.

BACKGROUND: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating condition often affecting young and healthy individuals around the world. This debilitating condition not only creates enormous physical and emotional cost to individuals but also is a significant financial burden to society at large. The Objective was to study the outcome of spinal fixation with fixateur interne in cases of thoracolumbar spinal injuries in terms of neurological recovery and complications. METHODS: This Descriptive study was conducted at Department of Neurosurgery, Hayatabad Medical Complex and Postgraduate Medical Institute, Peshawar, from March, 2006 to December, 2007 Study included patients admitted in Neurosurgery Ward HMC, with acute traumatic spinal injuries during the above mentioned period who underwent thoracolumbar spinal fixation with fixateur interne. Name, age, sex, other relevant data, history, examination findings and investigation results were recorded. Postoperative outcome was evaluated taking neurological status, and complications like infection, implant failure and other complications into consideration. Follow-up of 6 months was carried out. RESULTS: There were 31 patients, (18 male and 13 female). Fall from height (48%), road traffic accidents (26%) and crush injuries (26%) caused the trauma. Most common age group was from 21-30 years age. Fractured vertebrae included 2 D11 fractures, 12 D12 fractures, 13 L1 fractures, 3 L2 fractures and 1 L3 fracture. Mean operative time 80 minutes, mean blood loss 200 ml, mean hospital stay 6 days and mortality rate was 0%. Number of patients with Frankel grade A reduced from 27 to 19 and in Frankel grade E increased from 0 to 4 patients. Only one patient had infection and one patient had implant removal. CONCLUSION: Fixateur interne is a useful and low-cost implant for fixation of thoracolumbar junction injuries with very easy availability and easy operative insertion and little blood loss. It has excellent post-operative outcome in terms of neurological improvement and a very low complication rate. Mortality rate is minimal.

Complicated jejunal diverticula as surgical emergency: experience at a tertiary care hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: Diverticula of small intestine are rare. Jejunal diverticula can be single or multiple. Diverticula in the jejunum tend to be large and multiple. Clinically they may be asymptomatic or may give rise to symptoms like pain, flatulence and borborygmi, may produce malabsorption syndrome or may present in emergency with different acute pathologies like perforation, haemorrhage, obstruction, enterolith formation and inflammation. The Objective was to see the pattern of complications in jejunal diverticula presenting as a surgical emergency. METHODS: This descriptive study was conducted at Surgical Units of the 3 tertiary care Hospitals of Peshawar, for 7 years from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2008. Study included all patients presenting to and admitted in Surgical Unit, Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar with complicated jejunal diverticula during the above mentioned period. Name, age, sex, other relevant data, history and examination findings and results of investigation were recorded. Uncomplicated jejuna diverticula were excluded from study. The operative findings and the type of complication were recorded. RESULTS: Ten patients were admitted during 7 years of study. Out of all patients 9 were male and 1 was female. Eight out of 10 patients presented with perforation of diverticula while 1 patient had severe inflammation of diverticulum causing pain, ileus and acute abdomen. One patient had acute pain due to adhesion formation. CONCLUSION: It is seen that complicated jejunal diverticulae are quite rare and the most common complication is perforation. Inflammation and adhesion are other complications with which jejunal diverticula presented during this study.

Pollution dilemma in Asian population: CNG and wound healing.

Automobile exhaust constituents contribute significantly to air pollution in urban areas and compressed natural gas (CNG) is considered one of the most promising fuel alternatives for the future. CNG-powered four-stroke engine auto-rickshaws are ubiquitous in South Asian cities as taxi and for commercial transportation. Automotive exhaust contains several toxins, which are overwhelmingly toxic to the processes of wound healing. By utilizing the in vivo mouse model of wound healing, this report analyzes the effects of CNG-powered four-stroke auto-rickshaws smoke solution (4SARSS) on different events of wound healing; dermal matrix regeneration, re-epithelialization and neovascularization. A total of 72 adult mice, divided in eight groups were exposed to 4SARSS for 12 days. A highly significant reduction (P<0.001) in wound closure was observed among all 4SARSS treated groups, at each time point of the experiment. An immature development in both the neoepidermis and the neodermis was observed among all 4SARSS treated wounds with defective re-epithelialization, dermal matrix regeneration and maturation of collagen bundles. Abbott curve, angular spectrum, 3D surface topographies, and histological investigations of wounds explicated highly significant activation (P<0.001) of delayed-neovascularization among 4SARSS treated wounds. All these annotations advocate excessive toxicity of emission from CNG-powered auto-rickshaws to the process of wound healing and people occupationally exposed to this toxic emissions may suffer varying degree of delayed wound healing.

Pattern of breast cancer: experience at Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar.

BACKGROUND: Breast Cancer is the commonest malignancy of females all over the world and second leading cause of death due to cancer among females. The aim of this Descriptive study was to see the various features of breast cancer in order to know the pattern of disease in the recent time. The study was conducted from Jan. 2007 to Dec. 2007 in Surgical C Unit, Postgraduate Medical Institute, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, Pakistan. METHODS: Study included all patients presenting to and admitted in Surgical C Unit LRH, with carcinoma of breast during the above mentioned period. Name, age, sex, other relevant data, history and examination findings and results of histopathology and other investigations were recorded. RESULTS: Total of 46 patients was included in the study, out of which there were 46 female and 1 male patients. Most common age group was 40-49 years with 14 patients, followed by 50-59 years with 12 patients. Most common type of carcinoma was infiltrating ductal carcinoma with no specific features with 38 patients. Other types included 2 infiltrating ductal carcinomas of papillary type, 1 mucinous type and 1 medullary type; 3 invasive lobular carcinomas, and 1 mixed lobular and ductal carcinoma. The disease was left sided in 24 cases, right sided in 20 cases while it was bilateral in 2 cases. Upper outer quadrant of the breast was most commonly involved (n = 26). There were 2 cases of stage I, 16 stage II, 20 stage III and 08 cases of stage IV disease. There were 2 cases of grade I, 16 grade II, and 28 cases of grade III. CONCLUSION: Carcinoma breast is still a common problem presenting at a young to middle age group with invasive ductal carcinoma being the commonest variant with a high grade and a late stage of presentation due to lack of screening and awareness programs.

Frequency of HER-2/neu receptor positivity and its association with other features of breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Carcinoma breast is the commonest malignancy of females all over the world and second leading cause of death due to cancer among females. In Pakistan it is more common at a young age contrary to the West where it is more common in old age (after 60 years). The objectives of this cross sectional study were to determine the frequency of HER-2/neu receptor over-expression and its association with some of the features of breast cancer like patient age, ER/PR status, tumour size, histological grade and axillary lymph node involvement. METHODS: This study was conducted at Surgical C Unit, Postgraduate Medical Institute of Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, from January 2007 to December 2007. Study included all patients with breast cancer admitted in Surgical 'C' unit LRH, Peshawar for Modified Radical Mastectomy (MRM). The resected specimens were sent to histopathologist for immunohistochemical (IHC) studies (HER-2/neu receptor and ER/PR) and detailed histopathological analysis including tumour subtype, size, histological grade and involvement of axillary lymph nodes. Patients refusing HER-2/neu receptor immunohistochemistry were excluded from the study. Name, age, sex, other relevant data, detailed history and clinical examination findings and results of investigation were recorded. Data was analyzed with SPSS version 10. RESULTS: This study included 24 female patients of breast cancer having modified radical mastectomy (MRM). Age distribution ranged from 32-75 years with a Mean +/- SD of age 48.3 +/- 18.2 years. Fifteen out of 24 patients (62.5%) were >40 years, while nine patients out of 24 (37.5%) were <40 years of age. The HER-2/neu receptor status was found positive in 11 patients (45.9%) and negative in 13 patients (54%) of the total cases. HER-2/neu receptor positivity was not significantly associated with histopathological sub-type (p > 0.05), number of axillary lymph nodes involved (p > 0.05) and histological grade (p > 0.05). While, it was significantly associated with tumour size (p < 0.05) and negative ER/PR status (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Due to high prognostic significance and frequency in Pakistani females with breast cancer, HER-2/neu receptor should be checked in all patients with breast cancer so that the positive cases should have herceptin therapy and benefit from anthracycline based chemotherapeutic agents which can improve survival in these patients.

Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and neck swellings in the surgical outpatient.

BACKGROUND: Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) is a simple, quick and inexpensive method that is used to sample superficial masses like those found in the neck and is usually performed in the outpatient clinic. It causes minimal trauma to the patient and carries virtually no risk of complications. Masses located within the region of the head and neck, including salivary gland and thyroid gland lesions can be readily diagnosed using this technique. The objective of this descriptive study was to see the frequency of various pathological conditions detected on FNAC in patients presenting with neck swellings coming to Surgical Outpatient Department of Postgraduate Medical Institute, Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar. METHODS: This study included patients with neck swellings presenting to the Surgical Outpatient Department of Postgraduate Medical Institute, Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar from January 2007 to December 2007. Patients below 18 years of age were excluded. Patients' data were recorded. Samples of FNAC were sent to the cytologist and results recorded. Frequency of various pathologies was determined. RESULTS: The study included 50 patients with neck swellings. There were 16 male and 34 female patients with an age range of 15-55 years. Tuberculous lymphadenitis was the commonest diagnosis (36%) followed by reactive/non-specific lymphadenitis (18%). Other pathologies were malignant neoplasms (14%), cysts (10%), benign neoplasms (8%) and sialadenitis (6%). FNAC was inconclusive in 8% of cases. Carcinomas metastatic to lymph nodes were the most common type of malignancy followed by lymphoma and thyroid gland carcinoma (Papillary Carcinoma). CONCLUSION: It is concluded that tuberculous lymphadenitis is still the commonest condition in patients presenting with neck swellings followed by non-specific lymphadenitis and malignant neoplasms especially metastatic carcinoma. FNAC is an easy and suitable tool for the assessment of patients with neck swellings in the outpatient clinics. Although its diagnostic accuracy is limited as compared to tissue biopsy but it is a good test for both screening and follow-up.