International journal of surgery case reports
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Int J Surg Case Rep · Jan 2013
Paediatric case of a large gastric rupture after a blunt abdominal trauma: Report of a case in a District General Hospital.
Isolated gastric rupture after blunt abdominal trauma is rare. In current literature gastric rupture from blunt abdominal trauma ranges between 0.02% and 1.7%. This document reports the first non-motor-vehicle case of an isolated gastric rapture after blunt abdominal injury, which repaired after early diagnosis and aggressive surgical treatment. ⋯ We present this case report focusing on the paediatric patient to illustrate isolated gastric injury in terms of mechanism of injury, clinical presentation, and immediate surgical management.
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Int J Surg Case Rep · Jan 2013
A rare instance of retrosternal goitre presenting with obstructive sleep apnoea in a middle-aged person.
In endemic goitre areas, 20% of the population over 70 will have retrosternal goitre.(12) Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) occurs when there are repeated episodes of complete or partial blockage of the upper airway during sleep. ⋯ Terms such as retrosternal, substernal, intrathoracic, or mediastinal have been used to describe a goitre that extends beyond the thoracic inlet. However, there is a lack of consensus regarding the exact definition of a retrosternal goitre (RSG).(1) The majority of patients present with shortness of breath or asthma like symptoms (68.8%), as was the case in the studied patient. Other modes of presentation include neck mass (75%), hoarseness of voice (37.5%), dysphagia (31.3%), stridor/wheezing (19%), or SVC obstruction. Upper airway obstruction due to thyroid gland has been reported up to 31%(2) and difficulty in intubation has been reported in 11%.(3) Central airway obstruction produces symptoms of dyspnoea, stridor, or obstructive pneumonia and is often misdiagnosed as asthma.(4) The CT scan was the most useful tool showing the nature and extent of the lesion in the reported case. In a recent publication, the CT scan was considered the gold-standard preoperative radiological investigation.(5) Surgery is the only effective treatment for retrosternal goitres. In most cases, suppressive therapy with thyroxine is ineffective in reducing the size of multinodular goitres;(7,8) radio-iodine therapy is both generally ineffective in large goitres(8) and may induce acute inflammation and swelling of the gland with the potential for airway obstruction. The operation of choice is usually a total thyroidectomy. Only around 2% of patients undergoing thyroidectomy for retrosternal goitre will require surgical access other than a standard collar incision (either manubriotomy, sternotomy or thoracotomy).(9) CONCLUSION: Despite all the advances in investigative modalities, retrosternal goitre still exists in 20% of patients over 70 years in endemic regions. It has to be recognised that it can be a cause of obstructive sleep apnoea. Early detection and prompt management goes a long way in decreasing the morbidity and mortality in patients with RSG.
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Pulmonary aspergillosis occurs in the parenchymal cavities or ectatic airways. It rarely affects healthy people with an intact immune response. There have been few reports describing an aspergilloma mimicking a lung cancer. ⋯ An aspergilloma presenting a mass shadow on imaging may mimic a lung cancer in healthy people with intact immune response.
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An obturator hernia is a rare condition but is associated with the highest mortality of all abdominal wall hernias. Early surgical intervention is often hindered by clinical and radiological diagnostic difficulty. The following case report highlights these diagnostic difficulties, and reviews the current literature on management of such cases. ⋯ A high suspicion for obturator hernia should be maintained when assessing a patient presenting with bowel obstruction particularly where intermittent symptoms or medial thigh pain are present. Rapid clinical and appropriate radiological assessment, followed by early surgery is critical to successful treatment.
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Int J Surg Case Rep · Jan 2013
A rare complication of pre-Eisenmenger patent ductus arteriosus: Pulmonary artery dissection.
Pulmonary artery dissection associated with patent ductus arteriosus is usually seen in patients with pulmonary hypertension and Eisenmenger's syndrome. This paper presents a case with pre-Eisenmenger patent ductus arteriosus complicated by pulmonary artery dissection, and explains how she was surgically treated. ⋯ In addition to pulmonary artery aneurysm, pulmonary artery dissection must also be considered as a complication in cases of patent ductus arteriosus with high pulmonary artery pressure diagnosed in adulthood.