Congenital Right Intrathoracic Stomach Secondary to Hiatus Hernia in an Infant.

A four month old, female infant presented with acute onset respiratory distress and persistent, non-bilious vomiting for one day. The initial chest radiograph showed two large, fluid filled structures in the right hemi thorax. An upper GI contrast study showed right intrathoracic stomach with hold-up of barium in the pylorus. A diagnosis of congenital right intra-thoracic stomach with organo-axial torsion was made and patient underwent laparotomy and repair of the hiatal defect. The child is asymptomatic on follow up. The case is reported for unusual symptomatic presentation on early infancy.

Treatment of anal fissures using a combination of minoxidil and lignocaine: a randomized, double-blind trial.

AIM : Anal fissures are associated with hypertonia of the internal anal sphincter and pain. We evaluated the efficacy of local application of a combination of minoxidil and lignocaine in healing anal fissures. METHODS: In this prospective, randomized, double-blind study, 90 patients with anal fissure were recruited. Patients received local applications of ointments containing 5% lignocaine (n=28), 0.5% minoxidil (n=36), or both (n=26). Healing of anal fissure at 6 weeks was used as the primary end-point. RESULTS: Rates of complete healing of fissure were similar in the three groups (lignocaine alone 8/27, minoxidil alone 10/34, combination 7/22; p=ns). Mean (SD) time taken for complete healing with combination treatment [1.9 (0.6) weeks] was significantly shorter than that with minoxidil alone (3.1 [1.7] weeks; p=0.001) or with lignocaine alone (3.3 [0.8] weeks; p=0.002). Rates of pain relief were similar in the three groups. Stoppage of bleeding occurred more often with combination treatment than with lignocaine alone. No patient had systemic or local side effects. CONCLUSION: Combination treatment with minoxidil and lignocaine helps in faster healing of anal fissures and provides better symptomatic relief than either drug alone.