Painless Aortic Dissection with Catastrophic Consequences Presenting as Sudden Loss of Consciousness with no Prodromal Symptoms.

This case report presents a complex clinical scenario involving a 71-year-old female with aortic dissection accompanied by hypotension. The patient's initial presentation of sudden loss of consciousness unveiled a large pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade, leading to emergency surgery. Subsequent diagnostic findings revealed an intramural haematoma with an intimal tear in the ascending aorta. Postoperatively, the patient experienced an ischaemic stroke, necessitating prompt neurology consultation and treatment. This report underscores the significance of early recognition and collaborative management in achieving positive patient outcomes. LEARNING POINTS: Early identification of aortic dissection symptoms, such as sudden loss of consciousness and hypotension, is crucial for effective management.Managing aortic dissection involves a multidisciplinary effort with emergency medicine, cardiology and surgical teams working together for optimal patient outcomes.After aortic dissection surgery, staying attentive to potential neurological complications such as ischaemic strokes is essential.

Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome as a Rare Cause of Postoperative Intractable Vomiting: A Case Report.

Background: Superior mesenteric artery syndrome is a very rare cause of proximal intestinal obstruction. The objective of this clinical case report is to highlight that this unusual condition can occur in the early postoperative period and medical management may completely cure the condition. Clinical Case: A middle-aged female who was being treated for pulmonary tuberculosis underwent exploratory laparotomy with limited ileal resection and a loop ileostomy for multiple ileal perforations. Postoperatively, she was restarted on anti-tubercular drugs (ATD) but developed a drug reaction, recurrent bilious vomiting, and jaundice and ATD had to be stopped. But her vomiting did not abate and she progressively developed septicemia. An abdominal CT scan diagnosed Wilkie's syndrome, and she was managed non-operatively by decubitus, parenteral nutrition, and nasojejunal tube feeding supplemented with prokinetics and antibiotics. But her sepsis did not resolve. Intraoperative histopathology suggested Candida infection, and she recovered only after systemic antifungal therapy. Discussion: Debilitation conditions like tuberculosis cause weight loss and loss of intra-abdominal fat pad, which is known to precipitate SMA syndrome. However, its presentation in the early post-operative period is rare. Symptoms may vary from non-specific abdominal fullness and weight loss to features of acute bowel obstruction. CECT of whole abdomen can help in confirming the diagnosis. SMA syndrome is often not considered in differential diagnosis and can delay treatment. Medical management is the mainstay treatment option, although surgery is reserved for cases, which fail medical treatment. Conclusion: High suspicion is needed to diagnose SMA syndrome in the postoperative period, which precipitates with intractable bilious vomiting. Medical management may be curative. The precipitating factor for SMA syndrome should also be addressed to improve the overall patient outcome.

Subclavian steal syndrome secondary to atherosclerosis: A case report and review of literature.

Subclavian Steal Syndrome (SSS) is a rare vascular syndrome caused due to proximal occlusion or stenosis of subclavian or innominate artery. It is usually asymptomatic but occasionally may present with vertebro-basilar insufficiency and/or upper limb ischemia. Atherosclerosis is the most common cause.

Neglected Gallstone Disease Presented As Gallstone Ileus: A Rare Cause of Intestinal Obstruction.

Gallstone ileus is a rare complication of cholelithiasis seen in patients with a long history of cholelithiasis. It occurs more in the older age group and in the female gender. These patients have poor general condition and therefore selection of appropriate treatment is difficult. The clinician has to make a decision between immediate one-stage or two-stage closure of the cholecysto-intestinal fistula or waiting for natural closure. We have discussed the management of a rare cause of small bowel obstruction due to complication of untreated cholelithiasis.

A rare presentation of perforated carcinoma of colon as an anterior abdominal wall abscess-a case report and review of literature.

Colorectal cancer progresses without any symptoms early on or those clinical symptoms are very discrete and so are undetected for long periods of time. Complicated colorectal carcinoma has several symptoms, the most common being bleeding and obstruction. Occasionally, it will cause perforation, which carries a worse prognosis. It is rare for a carcinoma colon to present as abscess of the anterior abdominal wall that forms as a result of direct invasion and perforation of the colon by cancer. We hereby report an unusual case of perforated colon carcinoma presented as an abscess infiltrating the abdominal wall.

A Case of Isolated Jejunal Diverticulum Presented as Free Perforation: A Rare Cause of Acute Abdomen.

Jejunal diverticulum is a very rare disease. Diagnosis of this condition is a challenge owing to non-specific complaints of the patient. Fifteen percent cases of jejunal diverticula present with acute abdomen. Approximately 77% of small bowel diverticular disease occur with multiple diverticula. Here we describe a case of complicated isolated jejunal diverticula presenting with perforation, which was successfully treated with resection of the involved segment with anastomosis.

Delayed splenic rupture following trivial trauma: A case report and review of literature.

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Delayed Splenic Rupture (DSR) is a rare but well-known presentation of Blunt Splenic Injury (BSI), most of which occur due to motor accidents, fall from height or direct blow to the left thorax or abdomen. Here we present a case of DSR five days after a trivial trauma. CASE PRESENTATION: A 37-year-old female presented with pain in the left-hypochondrium after an accidental bump against a furniture at home. Initially, it was a grade III splenic injury but upon arrival to our hospital from her hometown it had progressed to grade IV. Since the patient was hemodynamically stable, non-operative management (NOM) was chosen with close monitoring at the intensive care unit (ICU). However, the next morning, the patient deteriorated, showing signs of hemorrhagic shock, and a successful emergency splenectomy was done. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: Over the last two decades, there has been an increasing inclination of surgeons towards NOM, even for high grade injury. NOM failure has been found to be associated with advancing age, high Injury Severity Score (ISS) or splenic injury. Some factors that improve the success of NOM are admission to ICU/floor, frequent monitoring of hemoglobin/hematocrit, vital signs, abdominal examination, and limiting heavy physical activity. CONCLUSION: Clinicians should not limit the possibility of occurrence of DSR to only major traumatic events. It is imperative that a detailed history of major or trivial trauma in the preceding weeks be elicited for any patients presenting with abdominal pain.

Acute hemorrhagic necrotizing pancreatitis in patient with COVID-19: a case report and review of literature.

Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was originated in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. So far, more than 4 million people worldwide have been infected with the virus. Various manifestations of coronavirus have been reported since the pandemic began. Among them, acute abdomen is one of the manifestations of COVID-19. Some studies have reported acute pancreatitis in several patient due to COVID-19 infection. In this study, we report a rare case in whom SARS-CoV-2 caused acute severe hemorrhagic necrotizing pancreatitis.

Diagnosis and Management of Lemierre's Syndrome Presented with Multifocal Pneumonia and Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis.

A 27-year-old female patient initially presented with fever, myalgia, sore throat that progressed to multifocal pneumonia, and cerebral sinus venous thrombosis. A combination of upper respiratory symptoms with tooth infection, positive blood culture for Fusobacterium nucleatum, computed tomography (CT) chest finding of multifocal pneumonia, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) finding of internal jugular vein thrombosis (IJVT) and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) suggested Lemierre syndrome. The patient was managed with fluids, antibiotics, and anticoagulants. The patient survived and discharged from the hospital. The patient's symptoms improved at 2 months of follow-up.

Interventions for End of Life Decision Making for Patients with Limited English Proficiency.

Patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) experience disparities in end-of-life decision making and advance care planning. Our objective was to conduct a systematic review to assess the literature about interventions addressing these issues. Our search strategy was built around end-of-life (EOL), LEP, ACP, and goals of care. The databases included Ovid MEDLINE(R), and Epub Ahead of Print, In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations and Daily from 1946 to November 9, 2018, Ovid EMBASE. Eight studies from the US and Australia were included (seven studies in Spanish and one study in Greek and Italian). Interventions used trained personnel, video images, web-based programs, and written materials. Interventions were associated with increased advance directive completion and decreased preferences for some life-prolonging treatments. Interventions were deemed to be feasible and acceptable. Few interventions exist to improve end-of-life care for patients with LEP. Data are limited regarding intervention effectiveness.

Do-not-intubate orders in patients with acute respiratory failure: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: To assess the rates and variability of do-not-intubate orders in patients with acute respiratory failure. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of observational studies that enrolled adult patients with acute respiratory failure requiring noninvasive ventilation or high-flow nasal cannula oxygen from inception to 2019. RESULTS: Twenty-six studies evaluating 10,755 patients were included. The overall pooled rate of do-not-intubate orders was 27%. The pooled rate of do-not-intubate orders in studies from North America was 14% (range 9-22%), from Europe was 28% (range 13-58%), and from Asia was 38% (range 9-83%), p = 0.001. Do-not-intubate rates were higher in studies with higher patient age and in studies where do-not-intubate decisions were made without reported patient/family input. There were no significant differences in do-not-intubate orders according to illness severity, observed mortality, malignancy comorbidity, or methodological quality. Rates of do-not-intubate orders increased over time from 9% in 2000-2004 to 32% in 2015-2019. Only 12 studies (46%) reported information about do-not-intubate decision-making processes. Only 4 studies (15%) also reported rates of do-not-resuscitate. CONCLUSIONS: One in four patients with acute respiratory failure (who receive noninvasive ventilation or high-flow nasal cannula oxygen) has a do-not-intubate order. The rate of do-not-intubate orders has increased over time. There is high inter-study variability in do-not-intubate rates-even when accounting for age and illness severity. There is high variability in patient/family involvement in do-not-intubate decision making processes. Few studies reported differences in rates of do-not-resuscitate and do-not-intubate-even though recovery is very different for acute respiratory failure and cardiac arrest.

A Novel Diagnostic Approach for Suspected Icodextrin Pleural Effusion in a Peritoneal Dialysis Patient.

Symptomatic pleural effusion secondary to pleuroperitoneal communication in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) occurs in approximately 2% of patients undergoing continuous ambulatory PD. The classic presentation is that of a low-protein, high-glucose pleural aspirate consistent with the high dextrose concentrations present in standard PD fluids, hence the name sweet hydrothorax. Nevertheless, the increasing use of icodextrin calls for an innovative bedside diagnostic approach because icodextrin does not contain high concentrations of dextrose after all. We describe a patient with newly symptomatic right pleural effusion 2 months after starting continuous ambulatory PD with 2 exchanges every 12 hours. Prompt relief was achieved with therapeutic thoracentesis, but the pleural aspirate had less than 2 g/dL of protein (to convert to g/L, multiply by 10) and a glucose level of 108 mg/dL (to convert to mmol/L, multiply by 0.0555), lower than the blood glucose level of 139 mg/dL in the emergency department earlier the same night. The patient was allergic to iodinated contrast. We, therefore, used an innovative approach with biochemical fingerprint analysis of simultaneous pleural and peritoneal fluids for electrolytes, urea, creatinine, and measured osmolality. With the increasing use of icodextrin in contemporary PD worldwide, this innovative tactic is cheap, is easily available, and does not require sophisticated, expensive, and often unavailable options, such as isotope studies, dye studies, and iodinated contrast-enhanced computed tomography. To our knowledge, this is the first time that biochemical fingerprint analysis of simultaneous pleural and peritoneal fluids has been reported in the literature.

Tuberculosis in Staff and Students of Patan Hospital.

BACKGROUND: There is a high risk of occupational exposure to tuberculosis among healthcare workers in endemic countries. Regular screening for tuberculosis among healthcare workers is not carried out in Nepal. Infection control measures are also not routinely implemented. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of active tuberculosis among staff/students at Patan Hospital. METHODS: Participants were given a self-administered questionnaire and invited to undergo chest radiography. Cases were scored and reviewed based on predetermined criteria, and presumptive tuberculosis cases were invited to undergo sputum smear and culture. Participants were categorized according to the extent of patient contact and asked about history of tuberculosis medication. RESULTS: Among 560 participants, 76.8% had direct contact with patients. Fifty-eight (10.4%) gave history of cough >2 weeks. Based on symptom history and chest radiography, 20.0% (n=112) cases were reviewed, and 12.5% (n=14) of those reviewed had sputum tested for acid-fast bacilli. One participant had culture-positive tuberculosis. Fifty participants (8.9%) reported tuberculosis in the past, among which 42.0% (n=21) occurred after employment at Patan Hospital and 42.0% before joining Patan Hospital. Security staff, radiology technicians and ward cleaning staff had the highest proportion of cases with a history of tuberculosis.History of tuberculosis medication had no relation with age, sex, education, body mass index and smoking.The incidence rate of tuberculosis at Patan Hospital was 3.6 per 1000 person-years. CONCLUSIONS: Overall incidence of tuberculosis among healthcare workers is noteworthy. However, this study suggests when symptomatic tuberculosis occurs in healthcare worker at Patan Hospital, it is diagnosed and there is not a large pool of undiagnosed tuberculosis.