Profile of gynecological cancers in a tertiary hospital, Eastern Nigeria

Introduction: there is a great diversity in the profile of cancers in the world. This study set out to analyze the profile of gynecological cancer in Federal University Teaching Hospital, Owerri, [FUTHO] (former Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, Imo state, Nigeria). Methods: this was a retrospective cross sectional descriptive study of the records of women admitted in the gynecological ward in FUTHO from January 2020 to November 2022. It was analyzed using SPSS version 23.0 and reported in simple percentages for categorical variables and measures of central tendency for quantitative variables. Results: a total of 1,378 gynecological patients were admitted into the Gynaecological ward of the hospital, out of which 242 (17.6%) were cancer cases. The most common cancer over the three years in review, was ovarian, 81(33.5%), followed by cervical, 66 (27.3 %), endometrial, 65 (26.8 %), choriocarcinoma, 22 (9.1%), vulvar, 6 (2.5%) and vagina, 2(0.8%). The most common gynecological cancers in this study is very different from previous reports from Nigeria and other African countries. The pattern looks like that seen in the developed countries where endometrial and ovarian cancers top the list. Conclusion: this report shows a possible change in lifestyle and improved access to cervical cancer prevention strategies. It is also assumed that all the facilities who have recorded cervical cancer as the most common cancer can actually have a similar result as ours if a more current review is done.

Intern's experiences with episiotomy and its repair

Background: Episiotomy ­an incision of the perineum at the time of vaginal delivery is a common obstetric procedure. If the repair is inadequately done, it may leave the woman suffering from perineal pain and other long term conditions with serious impact on the woman's health and social wellbeing. The importance of skill in the obstetric procedure of episiotomy and its repair cannot be over emphasized. Objectives: The study aims to determine the interns' training and experience with episiotomy and its repair. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire study of medical interns' who had their houseman ship at the Federal Medical Centre Owerri, over a period of two years between 2003 and 2005. Results were analyzed with the SPSS version 10. Results: 70 (77.7%) of the 90 interns to whom the questionnaire was administered responded correctly. They had an average age of 28.81 ±3.36 years. 44 (62.9%) had a formal demonstration on episiotomy repair done at their medical training institution. 56 (80%) of the interns were comfortable with episiotomy repair while 14 (20%) were not. 10 (45.45%) of the females and 4 (8.33%) of the males were not comfortable with episiotomy repair. 30% of those who got their skill on episiotomy repair at the period of houseman ship were not comfortable with the procedure as opposed to 4.3% of those who had a formal training at their medical training institution. Discussion: A formal demonstration at the medical school of training does not appear to be a constant event in the medical schools as only 62.9% of the interns in this study accepted receiving such. However, despite the above, 80% of these interns' were comfortable with the repairs of episiotomy. Conclusions: It would be preferred if a formal demonstration is given on this procedure while a student is still in training