Susanta Meher

Role of Biomarkers in Diagnosis and Prognostic Evaluation of Acute Pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis is a potentially life threatening disease. The spectrum of severity of the illness ranges from mild self-limiting disease to a highly fatal severe necrotizing pancreatitis. Despite intensive research and improved patient care, overall mortality still remains high, reaching up to 30–40% in cases with infected pancreatic necrosis. Although little is known about the exact pathogenesis, it has been widely accepted that premature activation of digestive enzymes within the pancreatic acinar cell is the trigger that leads to autodigestion of pancreatic tissue which is followed by infiltration and activation of leukocytes. Extensive research has been done over the past few decades regarding their role in diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of severe acute pancreatitis. Although many standalone biochemical markers have been studied for early assessment of severity, C-reactive protein still remains the most frequently used along with Interleukin-6. In this review we have discussed briefly the pathogenesis and the role of different biochemical markers in the diagnosis and severity evaluation in acute pancreatitis.

Port site infection in laparoscopic surgery: A review of its management

Laparoscopic surgery (LS), also termed minimal access surgery, has brought a paradigm shift in the approach to modern surgical care. Early postoperative recovery, less pain, improved aesthesis and early return to work have led to its popularity both amongst surgeons and patients. Its application has progressed from cholecystectomies and appendectomies to various other fields including gastrointestinal surgery, urology, gynecology and oncosurgery. However, LS has its own package of complications. Port site infection (PSI), although infrequent, is one of the bothersome complications which undermine the benefits of minimal invasive surgery. Not only does it add to the morbidity of the patient but also spoils the reputation of the surgeon. Despite the advances in the field of antimicrobial agents, sterilization techniques, surgical techniques, operating room ventilation, PSIs still prevail. The emergence of rapid growing atypical mycobacteria with multidrug resistance, which are the causative organism in most of the cases, has further compounded the problem. PSIs are preventable if appropriate measures are taken preoperatively, intraoperatively and postoperatively. PSIs can often be treated non-surgically, with early identification and appropriate management. Macrolides, quinolones and aminoglycosides antibiotics do show promising activity against the atypical mycobacteria. This review article highlights the clinical burden, presentations and management of PSIs in LS as shared by various authors in the literature. We have given emphasis to atypical mycobacteria, which are emerging as a common etiological agent for PSIs in LS. Although the existing literature lacks consensus regarding PSI management, the complication can be best avoided by strictly abiding by the commandments of sterilization techniques of the laparoscopic instruments with appropriate sterilizing agent.

Pathophysiology of Oxidative Stress and Antioxidant Therapy in Acute Pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease of pancreas with varied clinical presentation ranging from mild self limiting disease to severe necrotising pancreatitis with high mortality. The exact pathogenesis of the disease is unclear despite extensive research. Recent studies have shown the role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of the disease. Many experimental studies have proven the role of oxygen free radicals in the initiation and progression of the disease. Antioxidant therapy has shown promising results in experimental animal models, whereas conflicting result has been seen in clinical studies in humans. This may suggest existence of different pathogenetic mechanism in humans. This review gives an overview of the role of oxidative stress in the pathophysiology of acute pancreatitis and outcomes of antioxidant therapy as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of acute pancreatitis.

Umbilical Pilonidal Sinus: A Report of Two Cases and Recent Update of Literature.

Umbilical Pilonidal Sinus (UPS) is a rare differential diagnosis of umbilical disease as encountered by general surgeons. They usually present with history of pain and umbilical discharge. Young active adolescent males with dense hairy abdomen with a deep naval are at risk of developing this disease. There are no consensus guidelines for the management of this disease probably because of its rarity. Treatment depends on the type of presentation. Most of the cases are managed by conservative treatment with hair extraction and personal hygiene. Surgery is indicated in case of failure of conservative management. Although umbilectomy is a commonly done procedure, complete sinus excision with reconstruction which can be done to have better cosmesis. Incomplete hair extraction from the sinus tract has been found to be the commonest cause of failure of conservative management. In this paper we have presented two cases of UPS, managed conservatively, with no recurrence after one year of follow-up. We have also presented a recent update on current literature about this uncommon disease.

Torsion of a Large Appendix Testis Misdiagnosed as Pyocele

Torsion of the appendix testis is not an uncommon cause of acute hemiscrotum. It is frequently misdiagnosed as acute epididymitis, orchitis, or torsion of testis. Though conservative management is the treatment of choice for this condition, prompt surgical intervention is warranted when testicular torsion is suspected. We report a case of torsion of a large appendix testis misdiagnosed as pyocele. Emergency exploration of it revealed a large appendix testis with torsion and early features of gangrene. After excision of the appendix testis, the wound was closed with an open drain. The patient had an uneventful and smooth postoperative recovery.

Complete rectal prolapse vs prolapsed hemorrhoids: points to ponder

A 45 years female presented with a complain of something coming out through her anus since one year, which comes on straining and reduces only after manual intervention. She had also, a history of constipation with occasional blood and mucus discharge in the stool. On examination, she was found to have full thickness rectal prolapse, which comes out on straining and reduces only after pushing it manually. With a diagnosis of complete rectal prolapse grade III, she underwent abdominal suture rectopexy and now she is doing well after six months of follow-up. One of the very close differential diagnosis of complete rectal prolapse is prolapsed internal hemorrhoid. Both can present with similar symptoms with similar clinical grading, but management is completely different. Diagnosis of both these conditions is critical and mostly based on clinical findings. The differentiating point between a rectal prolapse and internal hemorrhoid lies in the orientation of the mucosal folds. Rectal prolase usually has circular folds (A,B) where as internal hemorrhoids have radial folds (C). This is because, hemorrhoids are collections of submucosal, fibrovascular, arterio-venous sinusoids mostly seen in the left lateral, right anterolateral and right posterolateral region of anal canal. While rectal prolapse is the intussusception of whole circumference of the rectal wall through the anal canal which presents with circular folds of rectal mucosa. This image presents a classic case of complete rectal prolapse with an image of a prolapsed internal hemorrhoid to understand the differentiating points of these two very common clinical conditions.

Tick bite presenting with Acute Abdomen

A 24-year old man presented to the emergency department with complain acute onset pain abdomen for 3 days. The pain started in the umbilical region, later became diffuse. There was no history of fever, vomiting or irregular bladder and bowel habits. He consulted twice in the nearby hospital for pain abdomen. Routine blood investigation, including ultrasonography of the abdomen and pelvis was also done which did not reveal any significant abnormality. He was given some oral medication to relieve his pain, but he didn’t get relieved of the pain. He then presented to our emergency department with intense and diffuse abdominal pain. Initial evaluation revealed features of diffuse peritonitis. Careful examination of the abdomen revealed a tick biting at the umbilicus (A). The tick was tense with full of blood and appeared dark bluish in color. The tick was removed and the patient got relieved of symptoms within next few minutes (B). Tick are spider like animals that bites to fasten themselves to the skin to feed on blood to grow and survive. Tick bite normally don’t cause any symptoms. During bite, they secrete a neurotoxin which prevents the host from feeling the pain. Sometimes intense pain can occur before or after the tick drops off. Minor flu-like symptoms can occur during tick bite like fever, headache, nausea, vomiting and malaise including features of local irritation. Rarely tick bite can cause severe allergic reaction and muscle paralysis.

Quality of Life after Frey’s Procedure in Patients with Chronic Pancreatitis

INTRODUCTION Chronic pancreatitis is a debilitating disease, associated with excruciating abdominal pain, exocrine and endocrine pancreatic insufficiency. Different types of surgical techniques have been described for the management of complications of this disease. The most common procedure which has been adopted for improving the quality of life of the patients with chronic pancreatitis is Freys Procedure. It is an organ preserving procedure in which the main pancreatic duct is drained by lateral pancreatico-jejunostomy along with coring of the head of the pancreas. AIM In this study, we have assessed the outcome of Freys procedure in terms of quality of life in patients with chronic pancreatitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS This was a prospective observational study done at a tertiary care center in West Bengal, India. The study period was from 2010 to 2014. All the patients who have undergone Freys Procedure during the study duration and with the postoperative histopathology of chronic pancreatitis were included in this study. The preoperative and postoperative pain and quality of life assessment was done using VAS score (0-100) and EORTC QLQ-C30 (Version 3) respectively. The statistical analysis was performed with the help of Epi Info (TM) 3.5.3. RESULTS A total of 35 patients with chronic pancreatitis underwent Freys procedure during the study period. The mean age (mean ± s.e) of the 33 patients included in the study was 38.48±5.55 years with a range of 29-49 years. The mean preoperative Physical Functional Domain (PFD), Physical Domain (PD), Emotional Domain (ED), Social Domain (SD) and general health raw score with standard errors were 32.06±0.40, 37.86±0.36, 15.18±0.32, 8.63±0.31 and 4.48±0.26 respectively. ANOVA showed that there was significant differences in PFD, PD, ED, SD and GH values during different time period of follow up (p<0.0001) and as per Critical Difference the postoperative values of PFD, PD, ED and SD decreased while postoperative value of GH increased significantly in different months compared to the preoperative values. CONCLUSION We conclude that Freys procedure is a low risk surgery, which significantly improves the quality of life of the patients with chronic pancreatitis in all the domains and can be recommended as a surgical therapy for such patients.

Pericatheter encrustations: an unusual cause of a retained Foley catheter.

Urethral catheterisation is a common bedside procedure in hospitals. After they have served their purpose, indwelling Foley catheters can be removed by deflating their balloon. The incidence of a retained Foley catheter, however, is not uncommon, failure to deflate the intravesicular balloon being the most common reason. Causes of retained Foley catheters are many and the method to deal with each varies with the inciting cause. Pericatheter concretion or encrustation, an unusual cause of difficulty in removal of the catheter, is often difficult to recognise and hence is prone to faulty management. We report a case of a patient with a retained Foley catheter due to pericatheter encrustations; multiple attempts to remove it were made before the patient presented to our hospital. The case is being reported for the unusual location of retention, and the associated diagnostic and therapeutic dilemma.