Experience with Abdominoplasty at National Orthopedic Hospital, Enugu, South-East, Nigeria.

Background: Abdominoplasty is a body contouring surgical procedure designed to improve the contour of the lower trunk. It is one the most commonly performed cosmetic procedures in developed countries. In developing nations such as ours, it constitutes a small percentage of aesthetic procedures performed. In our hospital, a number of cases have been done in the past 12 years. However, some studies from developed countries suggest that cosmetic surgeries in developing countries in associated with higher risk of complications. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of abdominoplasties performed in a specialist hospital of a developing country. Patients and Methods: The study was a 12-year retrospective study. The folders of all the patients that had abdominoplasty were retrieved and reviewed. Data was subjected to statistical analysis using PSPP4Windows®17 computer software version 1.4.1, 2019. The results are presented in prose, tables, charts, and figures. Results: A total of 30 women aged between 26 and 59 years had abdominoplasty. All were multiparous. About 76% of the patients had previous abdominal surgeries and 74% of this were caesarean section. No mortality was recorded but some patients had minor complications. The most common was respiratory distress which resolved on supportive treatment. Outcome was satisfactory in 95.5% and good in 4.5% of patients. Conclusion: Abdominoplasty in our environment is safe in trained hands.

Is intravesical prostatic protrusion associated with more complications in benign prostatic hyperplasia patients?

OBJECTIVE: Intravesical prostatic protrusion (IPP) is a noninvasive parameter that can predict disease progression and development of complications in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). This study was to determine the relationship between IPP and the presence of complications in BPH patients. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of BPH patients at Enugu State University of Science and Technology Teaching Hospital, Enugu. Patients were assessed for acute urinary retention (AUR), chronic urinary retention (CUR), epididymoorchitis, hematuria, hernia, urinary tract infection (UTI), serum creatinine, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA). They also had abdominal ultrasonography assessments for IPP, total prostate volume, bladder wall thickness (BWT), postvoid residual (PVR), hydronephrosis, bladder diverticulum, and urolithiasis using Sonoscape S11 with an abdominal-probe frequency of 3.5 MHz. IPP was measured in millimeter and divided into <10 mm and ≥10 mm. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21 and were subjected to 1-way analysis of variance, chi-square test, and Pearson correlation. The odds ratios of development of complications at an IPP cutoff of 10 mm were calculated. P < .05 was considered significant. RESULTS: A total of 118 patients with a mean age of 64.18 ± 10.96 years and a mean IPP of 14.29 ± 10.20 mm were included. Forty-eight patients had IPP < 10 mm and seventy patients ≥10 mm. Patients with IPP ≥10 mm had significantly higher mean BWT, International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), PSA, and PVR (P ≤ .05) and significantly more AUR, CUR, hematuria, hydronephrosis, and UTI (P ≤ .01). CONCLUSION: Patients with IPP ≥ 10 mm have a significantly higher incidence of some complications.

Comparing Objective Structured Clinical Examinations and Traditional Clinical Examinations in the Summative Evaluation of Final-Year Medical Students.

BACKGROUND: Medical schools have traditionally assessed medical students using long and short cases. Objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) has been found to be more reliable. AIM: To compare OSCE and traditional method of assessment in the summative assessment of final-year medical students. METHODOLOGY: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted at Enugu State University of Science and Technology College of Medicine. The Department of Internal Medicine organized clinical examinations consisting of long and short cases. The Department of Surgery organized an OSCE consisting of two parts (picture OSCE and clinical OSCE). Students' scores in both internal medicine and surgery were collated and subjected to analysis with SPSS version 23 (IBM; SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA). Pearson's correlation was used to assess the correlations, paired t-test was used to compare the mean scores, and Cronbach's alpha was used to assess the reliability. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Out of the 73 candidates, 41 were female and 32 were male giving a female: male ratio of 1.3:1. Using paired sample t test, there were significant differences between the mean score in long case (mean = 52.86, standard deviation [SD] = 4.315) and mean score in clinical OSCE (mean = 58.356, SD = 7.906), t (72) = -7.181, P = 0.000; mean score in short case (mean = 52.86, SD = 4.097) and mean score in picture OSCE (mean = 48.580, SD = 8.992, t (72) =4.558, P = 0.000; no significant difference between the mean total score in internal medicine clinicals (mean = 105.712, SD = 6.680) and mean total score in surgery clinicals (mean = 106.915, SD = 15.846), t (72) = -0.788, P = 0.433. The Cronbach's alpha for traditional examination and OSCE was 0.437 and 0.863, respectively. CONCLUSION: OSCE gives a similar mean score to traditional method, but OSCE is more reliable.