Time to Resolution of Triggering after Steroid Injection for First Presentation Trigger Digits.

Background: Steroid injection is a proven treatment for trigger digits. The time taken for resolution of triggering following an injection is a question often asked by patients and one that has not been adequately addressed in existing literature. The aim of this study was to determine the time taken for triggering to resolve after a single steroid injection in patients presenting for the first time with a trigger digit. Methods: A prospective study was conducted in patients with first presentation of a grade II or grade III trigger digit(s) that received a steroid injection. Data with regards to age, gender, digit(s) involved, duration of symptoms, trigger grade, and presence of diabetes were collected. They were given a stamped addressed postcard with instructions to fill in the date that the triggering resolved and mail the postcard back to us. If the postcard was not received at three weeks, we contacted the patient by telephone to ask for the date of resolution of trigger. Results: 56 patients with 66 trigger digits were included in the study. 52 out of 66 digits (79%) had resolution of the trigger at one month. The mean duration for resolution of trigger was 8.8 days (range 1-30 days). Conclusions: Patients can be counselled that a steroid injection is effective in resolving the trigger in 79% of trigger digits presenting for the first time and that the mean time taken for resolution of triggering is 8.8 days. It is recommended to wait for at least one month before considering another injection or alternative treatments.

Peripheral Nerve Lymphomatosis.

Lymphoma involvement of peripheral nerves is rare and it may mimic benign neurogenic tumors or neuropraxic injury. This study presents three patterns of presentations in four patients with neurolymphomatous involvement of their peripheral nerves. We reviewed the clinical records of four patients who underwent exploratory brachial plexus surgery (n = 1), pronator tunnel decompression (n = 1) and peripheral nerve exploration (n = 2) and subsequently found to have neurolymphomatosis (NL). Histological diagnoses were diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (n = 3) and NK/T-cell lymphoma (n = 1). NL lacks pathognomonic clinical and imaging features that aid clinicians in diagnosis. Apart from a history of lymphoma, and high clinical index of suspicion, PET-CT scans appear to be a helpful adjunct in detecting high metabolic lesions occuring in situ or systemically. Intra-operative frozen section is helpful to detect round blue cells, before final cytological diagnosis.

Python bite: an unusual cause of hand injury.

We report a patient that sustained a severe hand injury following a python bite. Python bite injuries are rare and we were unable to find guidelines in literature regarding the management of this injury. This report details our experience in managing this case and summarizes the available literature.