We present a rare case of stomach trichobezoar complicated with iatrogenic intussusception noted intra-operatively after failed attempt of endoscopic removal in a 13-year-old girl. At presentation, she had gastric outlet obstruction with anaemia. Endoscopy established the diagnosis of trichobezoar. Surgical removal was warranted after failed endoscopic removal. Her postoperative course was uneventful. Detailed history and careful examination disclosed trichotillomania and associated trichophagia. Psychiatric referral was sought with the intention to prevent future recurrence.
Staphylococcus Aureus is a Gram-positive cocci bacteria which had been found to be the causative organism in over 88% of patients with primary iliopsoas abscess. We report the case of a 53-year-old diabetic woman with end-stage renal failure diagnosed with left iliopsoas abscess with a catheter-related infection. Computed tomogram (CT) of abdomen and pelvis revealed hypodense lesions of left psoas, iliacus and quadratus lumborum suggestive of psoas abscesses. In addition, osteomyelitis changes at left sacroiliac and hip joint were seen. At surgery, she was found to have abscess at the posterior psoas muscle where she underwent open surgery drainage and percutaneous drain was inserted. A high index of suspicion of iliopsoas abscess should be maintained among haemodialysis patients presenting with intradialytic pelvic and hip pain and treated with optimal antibiotics therapy with appropriate surgical intervention.
Symptomatic bronchial artery aneurysm warrants urgent intervention. It has a known association with pulmonary infection caused by Staphylococcus aureus. We hereby report an elderly lady with a ruptured left superior bronchial artery mycotic aneurysm. She was in the early stages of treatment for a left lung abscess. She had multiple episodes of haemoptysis following which she underwent a left lower lobectomy. Presentation of lung abscess with a concurrent ruptured mycotic aneurysm warrants early surgical intervention and can be curative as seen in this case.
A 36-year-old lady presented with four episodes of right sided pneumothorax during pregnancy requiring multiple chest drain insertion. It was complicated with persistent air leak despite low pressure high volume suction applied to the chest drainage. She delivered safely through spontaneous vaginal delivery with chest drainage. Further imaging by high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scan of thorax done revealed bilateral scattered pulmonary cysts and sub pleural bullae and was later followed up with respiratory unit. She had no further episodes of pneumothorax postpartum. This case highlights the vital importance of prompt recognition and management of pneumothorax in pregnancy as the patient involved is at higher risk for acute respiratory failure leading to maternal and/or foetal mortality. It is essential for early involvement of obstetric team and to expedite the delivery for a better perinatal and maternal outcome.
Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is a rare disorder in children with variable presentation. We report a 7-year-old boy who presented with bilateral retrobulbar optic neuritis and responded very well to treatment. He was also positive for aquaporin 4 (AQP4) antibodies, which is part of an emerging endophenotype within autoimmune neurological disorders in childhood.
Damage Control Resuscitation and Surgery is the concept of controlled hypotension, haemostatic resuscitation and abbreviated surgical procedures following severe trauma; the practice of which has resulted in improved mortality and morbidity. We describe a rare case of thoraco-abdominal impalement successfully managed based on the concept of Damage Control Resuscitation.
BACKGROUND: Undergraduate medical students have been the most distressed group among the student population. Depression and anxiety have been found to be more prevalent in this group of students compared to others.
OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and predictors of suicidality among undergraduate medical students in a public university.
METHODS: This was an analytical cross-sectional study, conducted in a public university in Selangor, Malaysia. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires from January to February 2013, and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences Software (version 21).
RESULTS: Out of 625 undergraduate medical students, 537 (85.9%) participated in the study. The prevalence of the suicidality among undergraduate medical students was 7.0%. The significant predictors of suicidality based on multiple logistic regression were the respondent's lifetime suicide attempts (Adjusted Odds Ratio, AOR 10.4, 95% CI 2.7 to 40.9); depression (AOR 5.9, 95% CI 1.5 to 23.0); breaking off a steady love relationship (AOR 5.4, 95% CI 1.3 to 22.4); hopelessness (AOR 4.9, 95% CI 1.1 to 21.6); and something valued being lost or stolen (AOR 4.4, 95% CI 1.2 to 15.9).
CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that mental health care services should be strengthened at university level. The results show a need for an intervention programme to reduce suicidality among the undergraduate medical students.
A systematic review on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Immunochemical faecal occult IFOBT for CRC screening was carried out. A total of 450 relevant titles were identified, 41 abstracts were screened and 18 articles were included in the results. There was fair level of retrievable evidence to suggest that the sensitivity and specificity of IFOBT varies with the cut-off point of haemoglobin, whereas the diagnostic accuracy performance was influenced by high temperature and haemoglobin stability. A screening programme using IFOBT can be effective for prevention of advanced CRC and reduced mortality. There was also evidence to suggest that IFOBT is cost-effective in comparison with no screening, whereby a two-day faecal collection method was found to be costeffective as a means of screening for CRC. Based on the review, quantitative IFOBT method can be used in Malaysia as a screening test for CRC. The use of fully automated IFOBT assay would be highly desirable.
INTRODUCTION: The lack of evidence that proves the benefit of traditional and complementary medicines (T & CM) in treating chronic medical conditions does not deter its usage among patients worldwide. Prevalence of usage among post-stroke patients in Malaysia especially is unknown. This study aims to determine the prevalence, practice and perception of T & CM use among stroke survivors attending an outpatient rehabilitation program in a teaching hospital.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 104 post stroke patients attending an outpatient rehabilitation program. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on sociodemographic and clinical profile of patients, as well as types of therapy used and perception on T & CM usage. Descriptive analysis was done, and bivariate analysis was used to determine associations between categorical data.
RESULTS: Mean age of patients was 62 years (SD 12.2), 54% were Chinese and 75% of the patients had ischaemic stroke. Mean age of T & CM users was younger compared to non- T & CM users (61 years vs. 66 years, p=0.04). Two-thirds (66%) of patients admitted to concurrent T & CM usage while attending conventional post stroke rehabilitation. Acupuncture (40.4%), massage (40.4%) and traditional Chinese medicine (11.5%) were the most common T & CM used. Positive perception was recorded in terms of ability of T & CM usage to relieve post stroke symptoms (68%), and it was safe to use because it was made from 'natural sources'. Negative perception recorded: T & CM caused significant adverse effects (57.6%) and was not safe to be used in combination with other conventional medicines (62.5%).
CONCLUSIONS: Concurrent T & CM usage among post-stroke patients attending structured outpatient rehabilitation program is widely practised especially acupuncture, massage and traditional Chinese medicines. Overall the perception towards its use is favourable.
Study site: Medical Rehabilitation Services Department, Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
OBJECTIVES: Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common health problems faced by health care professionals due to their occupational lifestyle. This study aimed to quantify the prevalence of LBP among clinicians, and to identify its associated factors.
METHODS: A cross sectional study was carried out in King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH) among 460 clinicians from different specialties. A validated questionnaire of 21 items was used to collect data. Chi-square test and odds ratios were used to observe and measure the association between categorical variables. Binary logistic regression by Wald method was used to identify independent factors associated with LBP (yes/no).
RESULTS: The prevalence of LBP was found to be 59.4% (244) with 38% of them reported as severe. The distribution of prevalence among consultants, registrars and residents was 110 (45.1%), 91 (37.3%) and 43 (17.6%) respectively. Out of 114 (46.7%) surgeons who suffer from LBP we found, orthopaedic surgeons had 10.2% prevalence of LBP. Male clinician (odds ratio: 1.7; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.1- 2.8), consultant (4.1; 95% CI: 2.1-8.3), registrar (2.2; 95% CI: 1.2-4.2), more than 10 hours/week near bedside (1.8; 95% CI: 1.1-3.0), bending backwards at work (8.3; 95% CI: 5.1-13.4) and pulling objects during work (3.1; 95% CI: 1.7-5.6) were found to be independent statistically significant associated factors of LBP.
CONCLUSION: The high prevalence of LBP among clinicians and its associated factors indicates that clinicians should maintain good posture and avoid sudden movements during working hours in hospital to reduce this occupational health problem.
BACKGROUND: Good coronary care begins from the patient's home, including early transportation. As such, it is recommended that the patients activate ambulances, rather than to use their own transportations to reach the hospitals. It is not known whether Malaysian patients prefer to use private transportations or ambulances when they develop chest pain.
OBJECTIVES: This study is conducted to explore the question of the choice of transportation modes among patients with acute coronary syndrome and the reasons behind their choices.
METHODS: This is a structured interview survey on patients diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in emergency department of Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia from April 2012 to September 2012.
RESULTS: Out of the 110 patients surveyed, 105 (95.5%) patients chose to use own transportation when they developed symptoms suggestive of ACS. Only 3 patients (2.7%) came to the emergency department within 1 hour of onset, and all these 3 patients chose to use ambulances as their modes of transportation. None of the patients who chose own transportation came within the first hour of symptoms onset. This is shown to be statistically significant (p<0.001). The level of education as well as past history of ischemic heart disease did not significantly influence the patients' choice of transportation.
CONCLUSION: The admonishment by various international resuscitation councils that patients with chest pain should be transported via ambulances may not be as straightforward as it seems. Numerous local and regional socio-cultural and logistic factors may need to be addressed.
There is little information about the willingness of medical students to participate in Facebook for education. I analyzed my interactions with students for the past 14 months to estimate the quantity of student interaction. A Facebook Group was created. Students friend requests were accepted, but "friending" was never solicited. Questions were created around a clinical situation and posted. Forty questions were posted. 5/40 questions were about physics/chemistry. 24 questions focused on basic medical sciences. 11 questions were primarily about clinical medicine. In fourteen months, 533/810 (66%) college students joined the Group. In all, 163/533 students (30%) responded at least once. Half of all responses were comments; the rest were clicks on the "like" button. The average number of responses was 9.5 unique students/question. If participation is voluntary, and targeted students are large in number, one can expect about 66% of students to become members of a site, and about 30% of these to interact. For any given question posted on the site, about 2% of members will respond, regardless of the nature of question: clinically oriented or basic.
Intra-articular therapies, such as steroid injection, viscosupplement injection and acupuncture, are common non-surgical options for patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. With any intra-articular injection or acupuncture procedure, there is a potential for inoculation with bacteria leading to possible knee infection. The authors report a patient who incurred an acute infection found after a total knee arthroplasty attributed to prior acupuncture procedure done as part of conservative treatment.
A 64-year-old man presented with prolonged history of intermittent dysphagia with sensation of food sticking at his upper chest. Physical examination was unremarkable, and an upper endoscopy did not reveal the underlying cause. On computed tomography scan of thorax, an aberrant right subclavian artery was seen coursing posterior to the esophagus resulting in external compression, which is a typical radiological feature of Dysphagia Lusoria. The pathophysiology, clinical features, imaging features and updated treatment modalities of this rare disease are discussed.
It is crucial to realize that both omental infarction and acute appendicitis can occur simultaneously in the children as both diseases are managed differently. Omental infarction itself is rare in the pediatric group, and its association with acute appendicitis is even rarer. Both diseases usually present with right sided abdominal pain. Ultrasound is the choice of imaging modality in the investigation of abdominal pain in the children. It should not be content if omental infarction is detected, whilst the normal appendix is not seen. We reported a case of simultaneous omental infarction and acute appendicitis in a child who presented with 3 days history of right sided abdominal pain. It was diagnosed preoperatively by ultrasound. Prompt surgical intervention was proceeded and the child made uneventful recovery.
We present a case of a 53-year-old woman who developed multifocal insufficiency fractures associated with adefovir dipivoxil (ADV) induced osteomalacia, including recurring metatarsal insufficiency fractures and a subtrochanteric femoral insufficiency fracture requiring surgical fixation. She had received low-dose ADV treatment for 59 months for chronic hepatitis B viral infection at the time of presentation with subtrochanteric fracture. Imaging evidence of multifocal insufficiency fractures and metabolic disease on background of hypophosphatemia is attributed to hypophosphatemic osteomalacia from adefovir-induced renal proximal tubular dysfunction. Radiologists and clinicians should be aware of the possibility of insufficiency fractures in patients receiving ADV therapy to avoid delayed diagnosis and progression of high-risk proximal femoral fractures.
Foreign body (FB) aspiration is an emergency of concern at all ages. However, in adults, it can present with atypical symptoms such as shortness of breath, wheezing or rarely cyanosis. Aspiration of oral medications is seen in the elderly population with impairment of protective airway mechanism. Treatment of choice is endoscopic removal of the foreign body. We report such a case of foreign body aspiration (potassium chloride tablet), diagnosed on imaging and subsequently developed bronchostenosis. There are a very few reported cases of oral potassium supplement aspiration and associated complications in the literature.
Osteomyelitis in children has various clinical manifestations causing diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties. Inappropriate treatment of acute osteomyelitis may lead to chronic, serious and complicated condition. Chronic osteomyelitis continues to be a major cause of morbidity and disability in children living in developing countries. We present three cases of tibial osteomyelitis that have different presentations and sequalae. Our intention is to alert our colleagues, particularly primary physicians, regarding the variety of presentation and the important of early diagnosis and treatment to reduce the risk of morbidity following osteomyelitis.
Isolated internal iliac aneurysms are rare. We report a case of an uncommon presentation of perineal pain and tenesmus in a man caused by the pressure effects of the aneurysm. He had a successful endovascular exclusion and thrombosis of his aneurysm. On follow up of more than 3 years he remains free of all symptoms and no recurrence of the aneurysm.
Pedunculated subcutaneous lipoma in the popliteal fossa extending through the superficial fascia causing chronic irritant dermatitis of the adjacent skin with "psoriatic-like" plaque. To the author's knowledge, no similar case has been reported in the literature.