RESUMO
Limb loss to amputation is a major problem especially in developing countries where majority of the cases are preventable. It is a burden, not just for the patient, but also for their care givers which imposes tremendous financial and psychological burden upon them. The aim was to outline the patterns, indications and complications of lower limb amputations among patients admitted to MMIMSR, Mullana, Ambala, India, which is a tertiary care centre.METHODSThis was a prospective, observational study that was conducted at MMIMSR, Ambala, for a period of 18 months. 50 patients underwent lower limb amputations in our hospital during the study period.RESULTSThe age ranged between 23 to 85 years. Males outnumbered females by a ratio of 4.5:1. Toe disarticulations were the most common. Diabetes mellitus (DM) was the most common cause (62%) followed by Non-DM peripheral vascular disease (PVD) (22%). Two patients expired in the post-operative period. Infection of the stump was the most common local complication in the post-operative period. Hospital stay ranged from 6 days to 40 days.CONCLUSIONSAlthough trauma is still the most common cause of lower limb amputations (LLA) in the developing nations, amputations for complications of diabetes is on the rise and may be the leading aetiology in future. Diabetic gangrene followed by PVD were the common causes of amputation in our settings. The study shows that most of the causes are potentially avoidable. Community health education programmes that are primarily focussing on road safety measures, early presentation to the physician and good diabetic control are pivotal to decrease the incidence of amputations for preventable indications.
RESUMO
Cholelithiasis is one of the most common problems encountered in surgery department. It has always been a challenge to distinguish upper gastrointestinal symptoms due to gall stones from other causes. The persistence of abdominal symptoms even after cholecystectomy is highly discouraging for surgeons.METHODSThis is a prospective study conducted on 50 cases at the Department of Surgery, MMU Hospital, Mullana among ultrasonographically proven gall bladder stones. After history taking and examination, all the patients were subjected to endoscopy 1-2 days prior cholecystectomy, and biopsies were obtained for histopathology if required.RESULTSOut of a total of 50 patients, 44 (88%) were females and 6 (12%) were males with a M:F ratio of 3:22. 28 (56%) presented with typical pain and 22 (44%) presented with atypical pain. All patients were subjected to upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (UGE) and no lesion was found on endoscopy of 28 patients who presented with typical pain while out of 22 patients who presented with atypical pain, 18 (81.8%) had abnormal endoscopic finding and only 4 (18.2%) had normal endoscopy (p<0.001). Gastritis (72.2%) was the most common finding on upper gastrointestinal endoscopy followed by duodenitis (27.8%), oesophagitis (22.2%) and peptic ulcer (11.1%). On follow-up after 1 week of cholecystectomy all the patients except 10 from atypical group had persistence of preoperative symptoms.CONCLUSIONSPresence of atypical pain in patients with gall stones is highly likely to have other coexisting upper gastrointestinal pathologies. Hence, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy prior to elective cholecystectomy in patients with atypical presentation can be clinically helpful.