To study the role of hyperbilirubinemia as a marker of gangrenous/ perforated appendicitis

Background: Acute appendicitis is the most common cause of acute abdomen in young adults requiring Emergency Surgery. Diagnosing Acute Appendicitis clinically still remains a common surgical problem. Accurate diagnosis can be aided by additional testing or expectant management or both. These might delay surgery and lead to appendicular perforation with increased morbidity and hospital stay. The aim of the study: To study the incidence of hyperbilirubinemia in cases of acute appendicitis and its complications (Gangrenous/ Perforated). Materials and methods: This Prospective study was done in the Department of General Surgery, Madras Medical College and Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in 2017. Patient admitted with clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis or its complications (Perforated/ Gangrenous) in the Emergency. Final HPE was considered as a gold standard for diagnosing and categorizing patients as having Normal Appendix, Acute appendicitis and Acute appendicitis with Perforation/Gangrene. Results: Out of 246 cases of Acute appendicitis 42 Cases were Gangrenous/ Perforated Appendix (17.07%). Out of 42 cases of Gangrenous/ Perforated appendix maximum cases seen in the Age group 21-30 years (31%) and least seen in below 10 years (0.0%). Above 50 years no of cases of Gangrenous/ Perforated appendix were 3 (7.1%). Rebound tenderness predominantly present in cases of Gangrenous/ Perforated Appendicitis than Acute appendicitis cases and its statistically significant. Among 246 cases minimum age was 9 and the maximum age was 65 years and the mean age was 24 years. Mean Total leukocyte count was 12687 and Mean polymorph count was 75. Serum mean total T. Avvai, S. Nedunchezian. To study the role of hyperbilirubinemia as a marker of gangrenous/ perforated appendicitis. IAIM, 2019; 6(3): 272-277. Page 273 bilirubin was .92 and maximum was 2.4 Alvarado’s score maximum seen was 10 and least was 5 with mean about 7. Conclusion: Patients with clinical signs and symptoms of Acute appendicitis with raised serum bilirubin should be considered as having high predictive potential for Appendicular gangrene/ Perforation. Serum Bilirubin is an important adjunct in diagnosing the presence of Gangrenous/ Perforated Appendicitis along with other diagnostic aids.

Breath holding spells: evaluation of autonomic nervous system function.

This study attempted to determine noninvasively whether a dysregulation of autonomic reflexes exists in children with breath holding spells (BHS).Fifty children between 13 to 47 months of age who had experienced BHS were evaluated at a time when they stopped having spells, for autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction. The results were compared with the test results of control group of 100 normal children (age and sex matched). Breath holding children displayed significantly high resting heart rate and resting diastolic BP significantly abnormal; 30: 15 RR ratio after rising from supine to standing position; showed significant hypersensitivity of pupil on instillation of 0.125 percent pilocarpine into conjunctival sac and positive Orthostatic signs when compared to control group. This study correlates with the hypothesis that a subtle underlying generalized autonomic dysfunction exists in children with BHS.