Pneumatocele-induced pneumothorax after COVID-19 infection in a 45-day-old infant.

Throughout the literature, many pathologic lung lesions and complications following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection have been reported including pneumatocele formation which could potentially lead to pneumothorax development. This case report discusses the clinical course of a 45-day-old male with respiratory distress, whose condition worsened over time. Investigations revealed elevated COVID-19 immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies with negative COVID polymerase chain reaction (PCR) accompanied by radiologic evidence of pneumatocele formation, which was further complicated by pneumothorax. The clinical presentation of the patient was consistent with post-COVID infection but he had no history of contact with a sick individual which prompted further investigation of the source of the infection. Upon reviewing the history of the mother, symptoms consistent with COVID-19 around 32 weeks of pregnancy were revealed, which raises the possibility of maternal-fetal exchange of COVID-19 infection. This article presents the youngest reported patient with COVID-19 pneumonia that led to pneumatocele formation.

Bronchiolitis Admissions in a Lebanese Tertiary Medical Center: A 10 Years' Experience.

Bronchiolitis and more specifically respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) bronchiolitis is a leading cause of global childhood morbidity and mortality. Despite the previous identification of possible risk factors associated with the severity of bronchiolitis, the data from Lebanon remains limited. We described the burden of bronchiolitis hospitalizations in children under 5 years of age in a tertiary care center in Lebanon from October 2004 to October 2014 and identified the risk factors associated with severe bronchiolitis. This was a retrospective cohort study conducted at the American University of Beirut Medical Center. Records of children younger than 5 years of age admitted with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis were reviewed. More than half the patients were RSV positive. RSV bronchiolitis was found to be significantly associated with longer hospital stay compared to children with non-RSV bronchiolitis (P = 0.007). Children exposed to smoking had an increased risk for longer hospital stay (P = 0.002) and were more likely to require ICU admission (P < 0.001) and supplemental oxygen (P = 0.045). Congenital heart disease was found to be a significant risk factor for severe bronchiolitis (P < 0.005). Conclusion: Patients with RSV bronchiolitis had a longer hospital stay compared to patients with non-RSV bronchiolitis. Exposure to smoking was associated with a more severe and complicated RSV infection. Congenital heart disease was the only risk factor significantly associated with all markers of bronchiolitis disease severity.

Hawkinsinuria With Direct Hyperbilirubinemia in Egyptian-Lebanese Boy.

Tyrosinemia type III is the rarest type of tyrosinemia, because of a mutation in 4-OH-phenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPD). This causes two different types of diseases with different modes of inheritance: tyrosinemia type III and hawkinsinuria. Hawkinsinuria is an autosomal dominant disease, which presents a failure to thrive and metabolic acidosis; however, the liver is not affected. P.A33T heterozygous mutation was reported by Tomoeda et al. to cause hawkinsinuria. This case report will present the first case of an Egyptian-Lebanese male who developed direct hyperbilirubinemia and was found to have tyrosinemia type III, due to elevated tyrosine levels in the blood and tyrosine derivatives in the urine, but genetic testing revealed a P.A33T heterozygous mutation, a cause of hawkinsinuria.

The effect of regional anaesthesia versus general anaesthesia on behavioural functions in children.

PURPOSE: The primary objective was to assess the effect of general anaesthesia versus regional anaesthesia in a single exposure before the age of 2 years on the development of long-term behavioural changes in children. METHODS: The study was conducted between January 2014 and March 2015. Medical records of eligible children were reviewed. Then, parents of children who were included in the study were contacted and asked to visit the Outpatient Department to fill the Eyberg Child Behaviour Inventory questionnaire to measure behavioural changes in children. Children who were exposed to regional or general anaesthesia for surgery between January 2002 and December 2006 were included. Data collected were age and weight at the time of the first anaesthesia exposure and surgery duration. Chi-square test, t-test and multivariate analysis were used. RESULTS: In total, 394 children were exposed to anaesthesia before the age of 2 years. Among the 168 patients who were exposed to general anaesthesia, 44 children (26.2%) developed behavioural abnormalities compared to 12 out of 226 patients (5.3%) who were exposed to regional anaesthesia (P-value<0.0001). Exposure to anaesthesia before age of 2 years increases the risk of developing behavioural disorder when surgery is accompanied by general anaesthesia, younger age at time of exposure, and longer surgery duration (P-value<0.0001, 0.001, 0.038 respectively). CONCLUSION: Regional anaesthesia showed much lesser effect on children's behaviour compared to general anaesthesia. The incidence of behavioural disorder is increased with the use of general anaesthesia, younger age of the patient at time of exposure, and longer surgery duration.

The effect of IV dexamethasone versus local anesthetic infiltration technique in postoperative nausea and vomiting after tonsillectomy in children: A randomized double-blind clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Local anesthetic infiltration and corticosteroids had shown effectiveness in reducing post tonsillectomy nausea, vomiting and pain. OBJECTIVES: To compare the effect of intravenous dexamethasone versus pre-incision infiltration of local anesthesia in pediatric tonsillectomy on postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). The secondary objective was postoperative pain. METHODS: A randomized double-blind clinical trial was conducted at a tertiary care teaching hospital. Children admitted to undergo tonsillectomy aged between 4 and 13 years from January 2015 to August 2015 were enrolled and divided into two groups. Both groups had general anesthesia. Group I received intravenous dexamethasone 0.5 mg/kg (maximum dose 16 mg) with placebo pre-incision infiltration. Group II received pre-incision infiltration a total of 2-4 ml local anesthesia mixture with saline and an equivalent volume of intravenous saline. RESULTS: Group I consisted of 64 patients while group II had 65 patients. In the PACU, 15.6% of patients in group I experienced vomiting compared to 3.1% in group II (p-value = 0.032). After 24 h, the incidence of PONV was significantly higher in group I compared to group II (26.6% vs. 9.2% respectively, p-value = 0.019). At 48 h postoperatively, PONV was significantly higher in group I (p-value = 0.013). The incidence was similar in both groups after three, four and five postoperative days. Baseline pain and pain during swallowing were significantly different at 6, 12 and 24 h as well as days 1 through 5. Pain upon jaw opening was significantly different at 6, 12 and 24 h between the two groups. Pain while eating soft food was significantly different at 24 h and days 2 through 5. In the PACU, 20.3% of patients in group I received diclofenac compared to 3.1% in group II (p-value = 0.005). From day 1 till day 5, analgesic consumption was significantly higher in group I. CONCLUSION: Local anesthetic infiltration in addition to NSAIDS and paracetamol could serve as a multimodal analgesia and decrease PONV. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02355678.

Nerve stimulator-guided pudendal nerve block vs general anesthesia for postoperative pain management after anterior and posterior vaginal wall repair: a prospective randomized trial.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Compare the effectiveness of nerve stimulator-guided pudendal nerve block (PNB) vs general anesthesia (GA) for anterior and posterior (AP) colporrhaphy in terms of pain relief and analgesic consumption within 24 and 48 hours postoperatively. DESIGN: Prospective randomized trial. PATIENTS: Fifty-seven patients whose ages ranged between 20 and 53 years scheduled to undergo AP colporrhaphy due to the presence of cystorectocele. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were randomly assigned into 2 groups receiving either nerve stimulator-guided PNB (n = 28) or GA (n = 29). A total volume of 0.7 mL/kg of the local anesthetic mixture was injected at 4 sites. MAIN RESULTS: Both groups were similar with respect to age, weight, height, and surgery duration. There was a significant difference in average pain scores within the first and second postoperative days (P values = .005 and .004, respectively). Total analgesic consumption (ketoprofen and tramadol) was significantly lower in the PNB within the first (P values = .018 and .010) and second postoperative days (P values = .041 and .011), respectively. Return to normal daily activity was significantly (P< .0001) shorter in the PNB group compared with the GA group (3.6 days vs 12.2 days). A total of 71.4% of the patients in the PNB group were satisfied compared with 27.8% in the GA group (P< .0001). Surgeon satisfaction was significantly higher in the PNB group (82.1% vs 34.5%, P< .0001). CONCLUSION: This randomized controlled trial demonstrated that nerve stimulator-guided PNB could be used as an alternative to GA for AP repair of stages I and II prolapse because it is associated with less postoperative pain and analgesic consumption, in addition to shorter duration of recovery.

Encephalocraniocutaneous Lipomatosis: A Rare Association With Tethered Spinal Cord Syndrome With Review of Literature.

Encephalocraniocutaneous lipomatosis or Haberland syndrome is a rare, congenital neurocutaneous syndrome. It is characterized by unilateral lipomatous hamartomata of the scalp, eyelid, and outer globe of the eye and ipsilateral neurologic malformations. We describe the first case from Lebanon, an infant with classical encephalocraniocutaneous lipomatosis characterized by nevus psiloliparus, unilateral right facial and frontal-temporal subcutaneous lipomas, alopecia, ocular coloboma, aniridia and eyelid nodular tags, ventriculomegaly with intracranial and intraspinal lipomas, and tethered spinal cord. We report this case of rare association between encephalocraniocutaneous lipomatosis and tethered spinal cord syndrome and stress on the importance of spinal cord evaluation in encephalocraniocutaneous lipomatosis.

Effect of clonidine versus dexmedetomidine on pain control after laparoscopic gastric sleeve: A prospective, randomized, double-blinded study.

BACKGROUND: The use of opioids in surgeries for morbidly obese patients could cause respiratory depression. Therefore, alternative analgesics are needed to improve anesthetic management for obese patients. The objective of this study was to compare the effect of dexmedetomidine and clonidine on pain as well as analgesic consumption at 24 h postoperatively in patients undergoing laparoscopic gastric sleeve. The secondary objective was to compare patients' and surgeons' satisfaction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 60 obese and morbidly obese patients scheduled to undergo laparoscopic gastric sleeve were randomly assigned into two groups. 10 min after induction of general anesthesia, one group received 0.8-1.2 µg/kg/30 min intravenous (IV) clonidine through 500 mL lactated Ringer's solution and placebo (normal saline solution) through syringe pump. The second group received IV dexmedetomidine through syringe pump at a rate 0.5-0.8 µg/kg/h and placebo through 500 mL lactated Ringer's solution. Data on pain, analgesic consumption, and return to normal activity in addition to patients' and surgeons' satisfaction were collected. RESULTS: Both groups were similar with respect to demographic and intraoperative hemodynamic characteristics. Fentanyl consumption, surgery duration and hospital stay were similar for the two groups. Pain scores on walking were significantly lower in the clonidine group at 12 h postoperatively (P = 0.014) compared with dexmedetomidine group. The number of patients who consumed pethidine was significantly lower in the clonidine group at 12 h postoperatively (P = 0.045). CONCLUSION: This study concluded that clonidine and dexmedetomidine yielded similar outcomes with a difference in pain and analgesic consumption at 12 h postoperatively.