Flap blood glucose measurement for flap monitoring and early detection of circulatory problems.

Postoperative monitoring of skin flaps is subjective and cannot detect early circulatory problems in the flap. Early detection and rapid remedial re-exploration are important for flap salvage. We evaluated flap glucose measurement to monitor the flaps for early detection of circulatory problems. In total, 30 patients underwent cutaneous flap reconstruction. This is an easy, economic, objective, and reliable method for flap monitoring and can detect early venous congestion requiring remedial measures.

Medical Student's Perspective Regarding Undergraduate Surgical Education with Special Reference to Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted teaching in medical schools across the world. Online learning has become the core method of teaching during this pandemic. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of this mode of education among medical students in India. A survey was conducted by distributing online questionnaires to medical students across India. Data gathered from the survey was analyzed using SPSS® version 16. The overall response rate of survey was 58.4%. Practical training was most severely affected by online classes (93.32%) as compared to theory classes (60.93%). A total of 71.98% students agreed that canceling of physical medical conferences adversely affected the building up of their resumes while only 28.79% agreed that virtual conferences and meetings enhanced their learning. A total of 56.81% agreed that online exams adversely affected their performance. A total of 46.79% feels that online classes using simulated patients and simulation technology is not useful but 41.90% think that simulated teaching should be a part of the medical curriculum. A majority of the students (87.66%) had technical issues with online classes and 89.72% complained of poor concentration during online teaching due to distractions. A total of ~75% felt that the pandemic has adversely affected the availability of research opportunities and development of skills, ethics, communication, and behavior. Online education has adversely affected all aspects of learning, performance in exams, research, and the overall future plans of students. Moving forward from this pandemic, in order to maximize the benefits of both face-to-face and online teaching, we suggest medical schools resort to a hybrid pattern.

Assessment of collateral hand circulation by modified Allen's test in normal Indian subjects.

BACKGROUND: Allen's test (AT) and Modified Allen's Test (MAT) are used as screening methods for assessment of the hand circulation. Few people lack the dual blood supply of hand and are at risk of hand ischemia after any intervention on radial artery. The Purpose of the study was to assess the collateral circulation of hand using MAT in normal Indian subjects and in elderly population to know the prevalence of positivity of Allen's test. METHODS: 900 participants (1800 hands) were divided in two groups. Group I had participants with age <50 years and group II had participants with age ≥50 years. MAT was performed in all participants and results were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: In group I (n = 450, 900 hands), 313 were males and 137 were females, with mean age of 35.04 years. The relative percentages of a normal, equivocal, borderline and abnormal MAT were 77.8%, 16.6%, 3.7% and 1.6%, respectively. In group II (n = 450, 900 hands), 248 were males and 202 were females, with mean age of 60.4 years. The relative percentages of a normal, equivocal, borderline and abnormal MAT were 69.0%, 18.6%, 6.60% and 5.66%, respectively. A positive/abnormal test was significantly more common (5.66% Vs 1.66%, P < 0.00001) in older group. CONCLUSION: MAT is simple, time tested and non invasive test to assess collateral circulation of the hand. A negative MAT safely selects patients for radial artery harvest; however, if the test is positive and in older patients then a second objective test may be needed.