A cheap external fixator device.

A cheap external fixator made from readily available materials is described. This device should prove useful in the management of difficult compound fractures of the leg. Multiple staged procedures such as serial debridement, and bone and skin grafts can be carried out while maintaining the fracture fragments in position by means of this fixator.

Pyloric obstruction following the ingestion of corrosive acid.

Pyloric obstruction is a well documented end result of ingestion of corrosive acid. Whereas the oesophageal mucosa is resistant to damage, the pyloric spasm and the resultant pooling of acid in the pre-pyloric region, causes injury to this area. The fibrosis of the gastric wall with motility disturbances, and the diminution of acid and pepsin production from damage to the glandular elements, would weigh against the addition of a vagotomy to the drainage procedure. A case of ingestion of concentrated sulphuric acid and the management of its late sequelae, are discussed.