Articles

Background: Neonatal Near-miss is defined as complications of neonates so severe as to be imminently life-threatening but survived due to chance or treatment. The number of neonates who survived morbidities were approximately 3 to 6 times greater than those who died. There was little evidence about neonatal near miss in Ethiopia. This study attempted to identify the determinants of neonatal near miss among neonates admitted to the Ambo University Referral Hospital and Ambo General Hospital. Methods: Hospital-based quantitative unmatched case-control study was conducted at the Ambo University Referral Hospital and Ambo General Hospital from March 1 to 28, 2019. The respondents, 134 cases and 268 controls were recruited by simple random technique. Data were coded, entered and cleaned in EpiInfo version 7 and exported to SPSS. Both Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression was computed at 95% CI and the final model was checked by Hosmer and Lemeshow goodness -of-fit test. Multi collinearity and cofounders were not detected. Result: Multivariate analysis showed that distance more than 15km away from health facilities [AOR=2.11, 95% CI: (1.09, 4.095)], Unwanted, and unplanned current pregnancy [AOR=3.71, 95% CI: (1.28, 10.79)], less than four Antenatal care visit [AOR=6.55, 95% CI: (3.07, 13.98)], Instrumental delivery [AOR=4.62, 95% CI: (1.78, 11.98)] were positively associated with Neonatal Near Miss. Whereas Term Neonates [AOR= 87%, 95% CI: (0.05, 0.32)], and Normal birth weight [AOR=91%, 95% CI: (0.03, 0.28)] were negatively associated with Neonatal Near Miss. Conclusion: Distance from health facilities, Antenatal care visit, current pregnancy type, birth weight, gestational age and mode of delivery were determinants of Neonatal Near Miss. Therefore, providing adequate Antenatal services, health education and training is needed to improve neonatal health.

Ischemic heart disease may occur in isolation, or in combination with the pathological process of vascular ageing, arteriosclerosis. These two conditions have differing impacts on the haemodynamic changes in response to anaesthesia and surgery. Hypertension is not a feature of ischemic heart disease, and vice versa, but where the two conditions co-exist, hypertension aggravates and accelerates the pathological processes of ischemic heart disease. Patients older than 40 yrs. presenting for anaesthesia and surgery must therefore be considered at risk of any combination of these three conditions. Anaesthetic techniques must also be chosen to minimize haemodynamic changes which in the normal healthy patient cause no serious morbidity, but which, in the patient with ischemic heart disease, can lead to serious morbidity or death. Here we report a 70 years old (BMI of 23.3) elderly, hypertensive Male patient with ischemic heart disease with previous MI (EF of 40% - 5%) undergoing elective Inguinal hernia repair. We Opted Spinal anesthesia over General anaesthesia as it should be an asset in cardiac patients undergoing non-cardiac lower abdominal surgeries to reduce preload and after load, stress response, coagulation responses, improves coronary perfusion, provides better postoperative analgesia, reduces incidence of perioperative MI, maintains myocardial oxygen supply demand ratio and avoids harmful effects of GA such as hypotention due to intravenous induction drugs, tachycardia and hypertension due to pressor response during direct laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation.

The Czech model for reducing maternal and neonatal mortality for countries in sub-Saharan East Africa was created on the basis of the Archdiocesan Charity Prague project for a specific region-subcounty Buikwe, Diocese of Lugazi, Mukono Region in Uganda, a region with about 30,000 inhabitants. The aim of the first phase of the project was to build a new hospital, equip it completely for obstetric and surgical operations from the Czech Republic, ensure its activities with Czech and Slovak doctors experts, junior Ugandan doctors and Ugandan medical staff, provide obstetric training for villagers, ensure connections with villages and possibility of fast transport and urgent solution of all acute pathologies in the hospital, capable of 24-hour surgical readiness. In the second phase of the project, a school for midwifery was to be established. This second part of the project has not yet been implemented. The project could serve as an example and guide for similar humanitarian activities in other regions of Uganda and other countries in equatorial Africa.

Background: Oral cancer accounts for 30% of all types of cancer in India. Surgery is the mainstay of treatment but due to the recent outbreak of COVID-19, there is a partial or complete disruption of health services in the country. The initial delay in the treatment was due to cancellations of planned surgeries as per government regulations and reduction in public transportation. In the latter half of the initial relaxation of the lockdown, we formulated our institutional protocol for the surgical treatment of oral cancer patients. On admission, all patients were kept in isolated wards followed by RT-PCR (Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction) testing on the same day. RT-PCR negative patients are subjected to HRCT Thorax (High-resolution Computer Tomography). This ensured the safety of health care workers, patients, and patient attendees. Keeping this in mind, we did an observational study on the role of HRCT in the pre-operative screening of asymptomatic oral cancer patients.  Materials and methods: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data of 150 patients was done. HRCT reporting was done by two experienced senior radiologists of the Department of Radiology at our hospital. Results: The number of patients under the CO-RADS 1 category was 121 and CO-RADS 2 category was 29, according to CO-RADS classification. The results of RT-PCR and HRCT were compared and there was a 100% positive correlation between RT-PCR and HRCT Thorax. Conclusion: Our study supported the use of HRCT Thorax as a diagnostic tool in pre-operative screening of oral cancer patients for COVID 19, particularly in RT-PCR negative cases.

Background: We have developed a femoral supporting pad with an integrated ultrasound probe holder and examined its practical usability on patients with lower limb surgery. Objectives: To evaluate the function of this novel femoral supporting pad with respect to its practicability during the performance of a distal sciatic nerve blockade, the time needed to perform this blockade including the catheter insertion and the quality of postoperative analgesia within the first 24 hours. Methods: 50 patients which had been scheduled for elective lower leg, ankle or foot surgery had received a continuous blockade of the distal sciatic nerve. Sciatic nerve blockade was performed sonographically controlled with the patients in supine position by using our novel femoral supporting pad with an integrated ultrasound probe holder. Primary endpoint: duration of the intervention. Secondary endpoints: pain intensity (visual analogue scale VAS 0-10) at the first postoperative day; cumulative opioid (piritramide) requirement during their stay on the post Anaesthesia care unit (PACU) with vs. without distal sciatic nerve blockade. Results: 49/50 patients received a distal sciatic catheter, which had been sonographically placed within a mean time (mean ± sd) of 11:30 ± 3:13 minutes. VAS at the first postoperative day was (mean ± sd) 1 ± 2 at rest and 2 ± 2 as maximum. The piritramide requirement during PACU stay (mean ± sd) was 11 ± 8 mg without vs. 3 ± 6 mg with distal sciatic nerve blockade (p< 0.05). Conclusion: Continuous distal sciatic nerve blockade using a novel femoral supporting pad with an integrated ultrasound probe holder was feasible in 49 of 50 patients within 11 minutes and 30 seconds.

The success of vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC) has been correlated with a variety of maternal characteristics such as age, ethnicity, and body mass index (BMI, calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared). The patient’s BMI just prior to delivery has been shown to be a better prognostic indicator of success than pre-pregnancy BMI. Gestational weight gain was previously associated with a decreased rate of successful VBAC. More recent research has not supported such an association. The objective of our study was to further validate these findings with a larger population. We performed a retrospective cohort study of women undergoing trial of labor after cesarean (TOLAC) at our institution from January 2010 to December 2019. Women were divided into three groups based on weight gain in pregnancy as compared to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) recommendations (i.e. < 25 pounds (lbs), 25-35 lbs, > 35 lbs). We further subdivided the pregnancies between term and preterm deliveries. The primary outcome was a successful VBAC. Of 1087 patients attempting a TOLAC, 772 (71%) were successful and 315 (29%) failed VBAC. When grouped according to ACOG weight gain recommendations, 303 (31%) women were below ACOG guidelines, 318 (33%) met guidelines, and 339 (35%) exceeded guidelines. There was no difference in the rate of VBAC success among the three groups. When counseling patients, providers should still promote healthy dietary habits but should not correlate excess weight gain with chance of TOLAC success.

Environmental electromagnetic fields are nowadays available in all environments today. These areas affect the biological system. Controlled interactions with elecrtomagnetic fields can have positive effects when unrestricted interactions have negative effects. Uncontrolled exposure to low-frequency electromagnetic fields can cause adverse effects such as signal transduction in cells and tissues, cell membrane structure, ion channels, molecular interactions, DNA damage. But contrary to controlled exposure, it positively affects tissues. The most obvious example of this is seen in the bone and cartilaginous tissue. Repairing fractures and damage in bone and cartilage. This has been shown in many studies. Below is a summary of the relevant information.

Provide a safety anesthesia to patient is only possible with the knowledge of material surrounding the operation room. Benzine is highly flammable substance and can produce several injures without the necessary care. This case describes a small fire caused by the presence of benzine in the surgical field concomitant with the use of electrocautery, which caused slight burns to the patient, but which could have been catastrophic, and proposes the use of protocols to prevent such accidents.

Parabens are the esters of para-hydroxybenzoic acid [1], mimicking oestrogen, the hormone which makes a woman a woman; women love it and men hate it. 

Amenorrhea is the absence or abnormal cessation of menstrual cycles in a woman of reproductive age. Prolonged cessation of menstrual cycles might results in complications such as infertility, psychosocial developmental delays, Osteoporosis, fractures etc. Better understanding of physiology of menstruation is essential to understand the various causes of primary and secondary amenorrhea. Any disruption or functional abnormality in the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis can result in abnormal menstruation or amenorrhea. Therefore it is crucial to identify this menstrual distress in women at early age to minimize the risks of reproductive dysfunction in premenstrual and postmenstrual conditions.