Gossypiboma mimicking posterior urethral stricture

INTRODUCTIONForeign bodies in the urogenital tract are not uncommon. Hairpins, glass rods, umbilical tapes, ball point pen are described in lower urogenital tract. Retained gauze piece (gossypiboma) in posterior urethra may cause diagnostic dilemma. Symptoms and investigations may mimic stricture of posterior urethra.PRESENTATION OF CASETwo cases of retained gauze pieces in the urethra are described here. The micturating cystourethrogram was suggestive of posterior urethral stricture.DISCUSSIONTwo cases described here had retained gauze piece as a cause of filling defect and abnormal appearance in the micturating cystourethrogram. Gossypiboma may be a possibility where posterior urethral stricture are seen after previous surgery in paediatric age group.CONCLUSIONIn the setting of previous urogenital surgery gossypiboma should be kept in the differential diagnosis where posterior urethral stricture are seen in the paediatric age group.     

Initial experience of the High-Density Grid catheter in patients undergoing catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation

Purpose

A significant proportion of patients undergoing catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) experience arrhythmia recurrence. This is mostly due to pulmonary vein reconnection (PVR). Whether mapping using High-Density Wave (HDW) technology is superior to standard bipolar (SB) configuration at detecting PVR is unknown. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of HDW technology compared to SB mapping in identifying PVR.

Methods

High-Density (HD) multipolar Grid catheters were used to create left atrial geometries and voltage maps in 36 patients undergoing catheter ablation for AF (either due to recurrence of an atrial arrhythmia from previous AF ablation or de novo AF ablation). Nineteen SB maps were also created and compared. Ablation was performed until pulmonary vein isolation was achieved.

Results

Median time of mapping with HDW was 22.3 [IQR: 8.2] min. The number of points collected with HDW (13299.6±1362.8 vs 6952.8±841.9, p<0.001) and used (2337.3±158.0 vs 1727.5±163.8, p<0.001) was significantly higher compared to SB. Moreover, HDW was able to identify more sleeves (16 for right and 8 for left veins), where these were confirmed electrically silent by SB, with significantly increased PVR sleeve size as identified by HDW (p<0.001 for both right and left veins). Importantly, with the use of HDW, the ablation strategy changed in 23 patients (64% of targeted veins) with a significantly increased number of lesions required as compared to SB for right (p=0.005) and left veins (p=0.003).

Conclusion

HDW technology is superior to SB in detecting pulmonary vein reconnections. This could potentially result into a significant change in ablation strategy and possibly to increased success rate following pulmonary vein isolation.

     

Perioperative steroids in tonsillectomy using electrocautery and sharp dissection techniques

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of preoperative dexamethasone sodium phosphate administration on posttonsillectomy morbidity for electrocautery ("hot") and sharp ("cold") dissection techniques. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, double-blind study. SETTING: University pediatric hospital and county teaching hospital.Subjects A total of 219 children, aged 9 months to 12 years, undergoing tonsillectomy.Intervention Participants who underwent tonsillectomy were randomly assigned to receive either intravenous dexamethasone sodium phosphate (1 mg/kg) or placebo. OUTCOME MEASURES: Pain scores, oral intake, and emesis on postoperative day (POD) 1. RESULTS: A total of 106 subjects (62 undergoing hot and 44 cold tonsillectomies) received preoperative steroids, and 113 (56 hot and 57 cold tonsillectomies) received placebo. On POD 1, pain scores reported by patients (P =.02), parents (P =.002), and physicians (P<.001) were significantly lower in subjects receiving steroids than in those receiving placebo. Emesis was reduced from a mean of 2.1 (placebo group) to 1.2 episodes (steroid group) (P =.02). Oral intake improved from 24.5% of normal diet (placebo) to 31.7% (steroid group) (P =.004). When all 4 groups were compared (cold placebo, cold steroid, hot placebo, and hot steroid), pain scores reported by physicians and parents were significantly lower in the cold steroid group than in the other groups. CONCLUSIONS: Perioperative dexamethasone use reduces posttonsillectomy morbidity in pediatric patients in the early postoperative period after hot or cold tonsillectomy. The combination of steroid and cold dissection technique provided the greatest advantage in reducing posttonsillectomy subjective pain levels.