The Demographic Profile and Operative Findings after Conventional Surgery in Rectal Cancer Patients

Objective: In this study our main goal is to evaluate thedemographic profile and operative findings after conventionalsurgery in rectal cancer patients.Method: This quasi experimental study was carried out at Thedepartment of General Surgery and Colorectal unit ofBangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU),Dhaka and Somorita Hospital, Dhaka from July 2005 to June2007 where patients who having carcinoma involving themiddle and lower third of the rectum were evaluated. Duringthe study patients were divided into two groups: Group A:Patients undergone total mesorectal excision (TME) and GroupB: Patients undergone conventional operative method. Allpatients were operated under general anesthesia, placed inLloyd- Davies position.Result: In the study, most of the patients belong to 21 - 30years age group and 46.7% patients of Group-A and 56.6% ofGroup-B were males. The rest 52.8% of Group-A and 43.4% ofGroup-B were females. Sexual function preoperatively wellmaintained in 50 (94.3%) patients of group A and 51 (96.2%)patients of group B. Also, local recurrence rate in Group A ratewas 5.7% and in group B was 20.8%.Conclusion: We can conclude that, for management of rectalcancer conventional surgery has some limitation which canaffect the patient’s recovery and health condition. Further studyis needed for better outcome.

Prevention of Third Stage Bleeding by Using Misoprostol

Postpartum haemorrhage accounts for nearly 28% of maternalmortality in developing countries. This prospective study ofthird stage bleeding prevention was conducted among the 96patients, who got admitted into the OBGY units of DhakaMedical College Hospital for normal vaginal delivery. 96patients were allocated to receive either 600 µg misoprostolorally (57 patients) or rectally (37 patients) 5 min after cordclamping and cutting. The primary objective was to find outwhether there was any dissimilarity present between these tworoutes of misoprostol in case of blood loss in third stage oflabor. A total of 59 patients received 600 mug of misoprostolorally, while 37 rectally. Both groups were comparable indemographic and parital data.

Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and Antidiarrhoeal Activity of Methanolic Extract of Rumex maritimus L. (Polygonaceae).

The aim of this current study was to evaluate phytochemistry along with pharmacological activities of the whole plant of Rumex maritimus L. (Family: Polygonaceae). Phytochemical analysis of the extract of R. maritimus indicates the presence of Reducing Sugar, Glycoside, Gum, Tannin and Alkaloid type compounds and the pharmacological attention of these compounds prompted us to check R. maritimus for possible anti-oxidant, antimicrobial and antidiarrheal activities in a dose dependent manner. The dried plants were subjected to successive extraction with methanol and the extract was used to investigate the activities. The extract of plants produced good diarrheal inhibition in castor oil induced diarrhea in mice (250mg/kg and 500mg/kg body weight) which was comparable to the standard drug Loperamide at the dose of 3 mg/kg of body weight. The alcoholic extract was showed anti-bacterial activity against the tested microorganisms (both gram positive as well as negative bacteria). This study reveals the potent anti-oxidant activity that is (IC50~80 μg/ml) to that of standard drug ascorbic acid (IC50 about ~7 μg/ml) in-vitro when tested in 1, 1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging method. The obtained results provide a support for the use of this plant in traditional medicine and its further investigation.