A review of Morgagni and Bochdalek hernias in adults.

The incidence of Bochdalek and Morgagni hernias among adults is very rare. The purpose of this study was to determine retrospectively the prevalence and characteristics of adult Bochdalek and Morgagni hernias in a decade. Consequently, we demonstrated 12 patients with Bochdalek and 8 patients with Morgagni hernias. We presented plain radiography, operation images, and computed tomography findings of an adult patient with symptoms due to Bochdalek and Morgagni hernias. In surgical repair, the Morgagni hernia is best approached via laparotomy, and the Bochdalek hernia can be treated through thoracotomy or laparotomy.

Bochdalek hernia with concomitant partial situs inversus in an adult.

We report the case of 44-year-old woman with a left-sided Bochdalek hernia (BH) with concomitant partial situs inversus. The patient was presented from the outpatient clinic with lower chest discomfort. She had suffered from abdominal pain for one year, with no history of trauma, previous surgery, or extreme physical exertion. Chest radiograph revealed a large left-sided BH. The patient underwent thoracotomy. Intestinal organs, containing bowel, small intestine, caecum, and appendix were seen in the left hemithorax. Because of the failure to reduce the intestinal organs into the peritoneal cavity, laparotomy was performed. The right side of the abdominal cavity was empty. In conclusion, partial situs inversus was diagnosed. The diaphragmatic defect was repaired with non-absorbable sutures via laparotomy, and with a prolene mesh via thoracotomy. Bochdalek hernia with partial situs inversus is a rare clinical entity with none reported in medical literature.

Battery-induced Esophageal Foreign Body Injury, Complications and Treatment Outcome

ABSTRACT Objective: To assess the severity caused by button batteries in esophagus. Methods: A total of 32 patients admitted with ingesting button batteries were retrospectively evaluated. Chest X-ray was ordered for diagnosis. Hospital stays, interventions, complications and mortality of the patients were collected. The time between the patients ingested the buton battery and its removal was defined as its duration in esophagus. All the patients underwent rigid esophagoscopy under general anaesthesia. Buton batteries at the first narrowing were removed by magyl clamp. Results: Of 32 patients, 21 were females, with a mean age of 22 months. The mean duration of ingestion was 17 hours. The mean hospital stay was 10 days. Of the patients, 75% were admitted within 24 hours. Complication rate was 19% and mortality rate was 6%. There was a strong correlation among the number of the cases and the coming years (p < 0.001). The regression was between the number of cases per year (outcome variable) and the years of the study (explanatory variable), (p< 0.001, R = 0.644, Figure 3). There was a significant finding that more cases (90%) were admitted in the last 12 years compared with the number in first 12 years (p < 0.001). There were no complications in cases in which the button battery was impacted in esophagus for less than 24 hours; however, eight cases whose duration was more than 24 hours resulted in complications in six patients and fatality in two patients (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Batteries should be removed upon its diagnosis. Otherwise, the injury in the esophageal mucosa may be caused by delay and can cause an increase in morbidity and mortality.

Duloxetine-induced Sleep Bruxism in Fibromyalgia Successfully Treated With Amitriptyline.

A 44-year-old woman, who was suffering from widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and sleep disorder, was diagnosed as fibromyalgia. There was no apparent organic disease. Duloxetine therapy was introduced with a dose of 60 mg/day at bedtime. A few days later her husband noted severe teeth clenching and associated loud grinding noises during sleep. Then, duloxetine dosage was reduced to 30 mg/day. The bruxism continued with this dosage, thus the therapy was discontinued. The bruxism resolved after cessation. Three weeks later, duloxetine therapy was restarted at the dosage of 60 mg/day. On the third day of the therapy, bruxism started again and amitriptyline therapy at the dosage of 10 mg/day was added to duloxetine therapy. The dosage of amitriptyline was incrementally adjusted to 25 mg/ day. On the fourth day of the combined therapy, bruxism symptoms improved. Two months later, the bruxism symptoms were resolved and the complaints for fibromyalgia were under control. Although bruxism has been reported due to venlafaxine use, there is only one duloxetine-induced bruxism case in the literature which was treated with buspirone. However, we report duloxetine-induced bruxism treated successfully with amitriptyline in a patient with fibromyalgia. Tricyclic antidepressants have a suppression effect on the REM phase of the sleep cycle; this may help to cease the bruxism symptoms appearing in that phase of the sleep cycle. This is the first reported case of fibromyalgia with duloxetine-induced sleep bruxism successfully treated with amitriptyline.

Surgical treatment of pulmonary hydatid cysts in children: report of 66 cases.

AIM OF THE STUDY: Hydatid disease is a parasitic infestation which is endemic in many sheep and cattle raising areas and is still an important health problem in the world. The aim of our study was to present our surgical experience and strategy in the management of pulmonary hydatid disease. METHODS: Sixty-six patients with 83 pulmonary hydatid cysts underwent surgical treatment in our institution between January 1990 and March 2003. We used double-lumen endotracheal tubes in children older than 12 years who were operated on for hydatic cyst in the last 8 years. RESULTS: There were 38 boys and 28 girls with a mean age of 9.6 +/- 7 years (range 5-15 years). Of the 83 cysts, 61 were intact and 22 were ruptured cysts. Isolated pulmonary hydatid cyst was seen in 61 patients (92.4 %), while 5 patients (7.6 %) had combined pulmonary and hepatic cysts. Lateral thoracotomy was performed in 54 patients (82 %), thoracophrenotomy in 5, bilateral thoracotomy in 4, and median sternotomy in 3 patients. Cystotomy and capitonnage was performed in 58 cysts, cystotomy alone in 21, and resection techniques were used in 4. There were 8 postoperative complications in 7 patients. The most common complication was atelectasis. CONCLUSIONS: Surgery is the treatment of choice for most patients with pulmonary hydatid cysts. The usage of double-lumen tubes may decrease intra- and postoperative complications. Thoracophrenotomy can be chosen as the surgical procedure in the management of hepatic and pulmonary hydatid cysts.

Intrapleural fibrinolytic treatment of multiloculated pediatric empyemas.

AIM: The aim of this paper was to compare the efficacy of adjunctive intrapleural fibrinolygic agents (streptokinase, urokinase) on fibrinopurulent stage empyema and chronic stage empyema. METHODS: In our clinic, we used intrapleural fibrinolytic agents in 78 pediatric patients (36 fibrinopurument stage empyemas, 42 chronic stage empyemas) between December 1994 and September 2002. Pleural biopsy was done for staging. Streptokinase 250,000 units in 100 ml 0.9% saline solution (62 patients) and 125000 units in 100 ml 0.9% saline solution (16 patients) was instilled daily to the chest tube, and the tube was clamped for 4 h followed by suction. This treatment was continued daily for 2 to 8 days until resolution was demonstrated by chest radiograms and/or computed chest tomography. RESULTS: The treatment was discontinued due to allergic reaction and pleural hemorrhage in 1 patient with fibrinopurulent empyema. This patient died 1 day later in a septic condition. The regimen was completely successful in 24/36 (66.6%) fibrinopurulent empyemas, and partially successful in other 11/36 (30.55%). Treatment was ineffective in 38 of 42 patients with chronic empyemas (90.6%). Two cases in chronic phase empyema completely recovered and 2 other patients had a partial response. Success of the treatment was 91.66% (35/36) (complete response: 24/36' partial response 11/36) in the fibropurulent stage and 9.4% (2/42 complete response, 2/42 partial response in chronic cases. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that intrapleural fibrinolytic treatment is an effective and safe therapy in children with fibrinopurulent phase thoracic empyema.