The caudal block: The “no turn” technique

The caudal block is an effective technique that is very common and popular in pediatric regional anesthesia. To perform this block safely, good anatomic knowledge and accurate guidelines about techniques and drugs administration must be followed. The usual approach is well-known and often described, but in some cases is not without risks. The “no turn” technique is a very easy approach that reduces these risks and is useful for teaching hospitals that are minimizing the time of the learning curve. In this article, the technique is shown and the doses of local anesthetics and adjuvants are described. Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.     

The Emergency Surgical Team – The Way Forward in Emergency Care?

INTRODUCTION

With reduced working hours and shift patterns, surgical training and continuity of patient care is being put at risk. We have devised a system for managing the emergency surgical patients in an effort to counteract these perceived problems. This study describes the emergency surgical team and audits its activity.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The emergency surgery team concept is described in detail. Over a 2-week period, general surgical referral data, patient management and operative activity were audited.

RESULTS

A total of 229 patients were referred to the emergency surgical team with 159 treated conservatively, 45 underwent operative intervention and 25 were discharged without admission. Of the emergency surgical team referrals, 58% had gallstone pathology, appendicitis or constipation/non-specific abdominal pain. Average daily number of patients under the care of the emergency surgical team was 26 (range, 10–40).

CONCLUTIONS

The consultant-led emergency surgical team look after many of the acutely sick surgical patients. Our system not only provides good teaching opportunities but ensures optimal continuity of patient care in a busy district general hospital. Such an approach to emergency surgical care has been successfully developed to optimise training opportunities and improve patient care in a setting of reduced working hours and shift systems in our hospital.     

The National Lung Cancer Screening Trial: The Ripple Effect Begins?

Preliminary results of the National Lung Screening Trial were recently announced. The significant implications of this trial for thoracic surgical practice are reviewed.     

The Sauvé-Kapandji procedure

The Sauvé-Kapandji procedure is useful for treating a variety of pathologic conditions that alter the normal function of the distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ). An arthrodesis is performed between the ulnar head and sigmoid fossa of the distal radius along with creation of a soft tissue interposition pseudarthrosis just proximal to the arthrodesis site that preserves forearm rotation. Presented herein is a brief history of the procedure and the current techniques available to achieve optimum results when it is used, along with a summary of its indications and contraindications.     

The Hospital for the Ruptured and Crippled Renamed The Hospital for Special Surgery 1940; The War Years 1941–1945

In 1939, the 75th anniversary program marking the founding of the Hospital for the Ruptured and Crippled (R & C), the oldest orthopaedic hospital in the nation, was held at the hospital site in New York City. Dr. Philip D. Wilson, Surgeon-in-Chief since 1935, used this event to mark the return of the hospital to its leadership role in the country. When the Hospital for the Ruptured and Crippled first opened its doors on May 1, 1863, the name of the hospital was not unusual; it described the type of patients treated. In 1940, the Board of Managers with guidance from Dr. Wilson changed the name to the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS). In 1941, with Britain engaged in a European war, Dr. Wilson felt there was a need for the Americans to support the British. He personally organized the American Hospital in Britain, a privately funded voluntary unit, to help care for the wounded. After the United States actually entered World War II in December 1941, HSS quickly organized support at all levels with a significant number of professional and auxiliary staff, eventually enlisting in the military. Even with such staff turnover, the hospital continued to function under Dr. Wilson’s leadership. After the war ended in 1945, Wilson forged ahead to further restore HSS as a leader in musculoskeletal medicine and surgery.

The ‘clitoromotor’ reflex

The effect of glans clitoris (GC) stimulation on the vagina, uterus and pelvic floor muscles (levator ani (LA) or pubococcygeus, puborectalis (PR)) was studied in 16 healthy volunteers (mean age 34.9 years). The GC was stimulated mechanically and electrically while recording the vaginal and uterine pressures and the electromyographic activity of PR and LA. Stimulation caused a drop in the uterine (P<0.001) and upper vaginal (P<0.05) pressures (1.6 and 2.9 cmH₂O, respectively) and an increase in the middle (P<0.001) and lower (P<0.001) vaginal pressures (58.6 and 89.2 cmH₂O, respectively). It also effected an increase of EMG activity in the PR (P<0.01) and LA (P<0.01). Response was greater with electrical than with mechanical stimulation (P<0.05). No response occurred upon stimulation of the anesthetized GC or the anesthetized PR or LA. The reproducibility of the PR and LA contraction on GC stimulation postulates a reflex relationship which we call the clitoromotor reflex. This induces uterovaginal changes that enhance the sexual response of both partners, and also prepares the uterus and vagina for the reproductive process. LA contraction pulls open and reduces the pressure in the upper vagina as well as elevating the cervix uteri. PR contraction constricts the middle and lower vagina and increases their pressure.Editorial Comment: This article describes a reflex which is operative during coitus. It results in ballooning of the upper vagina (assuming lateral sidewall attachments are intact) and contraction of the paravaginal muscles. The study is nicely done and objectively establishes the existence of this physiological reflex.     

The “Kergin pneumonectomy”

Out of a series of 211 stage III (A and B) lung cancers radically resected with routine lymphadenectomy from 1971 to 1987, a total of 11 were squamous cell carcinomas invading the right main bronchus and lateral portion of the trachea. These patients were managed using a particular technique that we have always arbitrarily called, Kergin pneumonectomy, after the Toronto surgeon who described it in 1952. These patients, today, are staged III B. There was no operative mortality and only 2 minor complications. Two patients survived 3 years and 1 is alive and free of disease 7 years from surgery. This technique should be considered before embarking on more perilous surgery such as sleeve pneumonectomy, a procedure which still carries high mortality and morbidity rates and requires special equipment and intensive postoperative care.

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Resumen En una serie de 211 casos de cáncer pulmonar en estado III (A y B) sometidos a resección radical con linfadenectomía rutinaria entre 1971 y 1987, un total de 11 eran carcinomas escamocelulares que invadían el bronquio principal derecho y la porción lateral de la tráquea. Estos pacientes fueron manejados utilizando una técnica quirúrgica particular que arbitrariamente hemos denominado la neumonectomía de Kergin, según el cirujano de Toronto que la describió en 1952. Estos pacientes actualmente son estadificados como III B. No se presentó mortalidad operatoria y sólo hubo 2 complicaciones menores. Dos pacientes sobrevivieron 3 años y uno se encuentra vivo y libre de enfermedad 7 años después de la operación. Esta técnica debe ser considerada antes de embarcarse en operaciones más peligrosas taies como la neumonectomía en manga, un procedimiento que todavía conlleva elevadas tasas de mortalidad y morbilidad y que requiere equipo especial y cuidado intensivo postoperatorio.

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Résumé Dans une série de 211 cancers bronchopulmonaires de stade III (A et B), réséqués de façon radicale avec lymphadénectomie systématique, entre 1971 et 1987, 11 étaient des cancers épithéliaux envahissant la bronche souche droite et la partie latérale de la trachée. Les patients ont été opérés selon une technique que nous avons nommée arbitrairement la pneumectomie de Kergin, selon le nom du chirugien de Toronto qui l'a décrite pour la première fois en 1952. A présent, ces patients sont de stade III B. Il n'y a pas eu de mort à l'opération et il y a eu seulement 2 complications mineures. Deux patients ont survécu 3 ans et le troisème est vivant et sans récidive à 7 ans. Cette technique est à considérer avant d'envisager la pneumectomie avec enmanchonnage, technique encore accompagnée de mortalité et morbidité élevées et demandant des soins postopératoires intensifs spécifiques.

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Presented at the Société Internationale de Chirurgie in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, September, 1989.