Causes and treatment of tonsillitis

Sore throats can have a range of causes. Common cold viruses are usually to blame. In rarer cases, sore throats are caused by an infection of the tonsils [tonsillitis]. This infection is often bacterial, or sometimes viral. But it isn't easy to tell what kind of germs is responsible for the infection. Children and teenagers are much more susceptible to tonsillitis than adults are. Tonsillitis is inflammation of the pharyngeal tonsils. The inflammation usually extends to the adenoid and the lingual tonsils; therefore, the term pharyngitis may also be used. Most cases of bacterial tonsillitis are caused by group A beta-hemolytic Streptococcus pyogenes [GABHS]. Tonsillitis of viral origin is usually treated with supportive care. We describe the anatomic features and the immunologic function of the palatine tonsils, including a detailed discussion of history and physical examination findings, treatment, and possible complications of acute tonsillitis. Establishing an accurate diagnosis and initiating appropriate treatment are key components of managing this common pathologic process

Incidence of fat embolism after long fracture fixation operations: review article

In spite of being rare, fat embolism syndrome is considered a fatal complication after bone fracture and orthopedic procedures. It was suggested that early immobilization might reduce the incidence of fat embolism syndrome. However, no enough data are available to justify this finding

Objectives: The aim of this review is to determine the incidence of fat embolism among patients who had long fracture fixation

Methods: A systematic review of Medline and Cochrane library was conducted on their database. This search yielded 34 papers, 13 of which were related

Results: The incidence of fat embolism syndrome after long fracture fixation ranged from 2.7% and 11%. More specifically, the incidence among long bone fracture patients who were operated early [within the first 24 hours after injury] ranged from zero% in some studies [16,19] to 1.8% in others. As regards late operation, after 24 hour of bone fracture, the incidence of fat embolism syndrome [FES] ranged from 3.5% to 10.4

Conclusions: The incidence of fat embolism in post long fracture fixation is very low. Several research works indicate that early fixation significantly reduce the incidence of FES compared to late fixation