Background: The practice of short stay thyroidectomy is relatively new in developing nations like Nigeria. The primary reason for this is a lack of resources. Furthermore, the prevailing poverty prevents many patients from accessing tertiary health care, as such, ad hoc medical outreaches are usually conducted to bridge the gap. Thyroidectomies have not been routinely performed in these outreach settings due to safety concerns. The study seeks to analyse whether short stay thyroidectomy can be safely practiced under medical outreach settings with limited resources.Methods: The study is a prospective review of all patients that had short stay thyroidectomy at four rural medical outreach settings in Nigeria. Entire study spanned January 2019 to November 2019. Each outreach lasted one week, and patients were followed up for the duration of the outreach. All patients presenting at the outreach locations and diagnosed with goiters who have had no prior neck surgeries, are euthyroid, have no locally advanced malignancies or intrathoracic goiters, have adequate social support, possess a telephone, and have accommodation within the local government area where the outreach is carried out were included in the study. Exclusion criteria included patients who did not satisfy any of the above listed inclusion criteria. Thyroidectomy was done through a standard cervicotomy. Descriptive statistics were applied.Results: A total of 81 patients with non-toxic goiters had thyroid surgery. There were 76 (94%) females and five (6%) males. Average age was 46 years. Sixty-nine (85.2%) patients had no complication, while 12 (14.8%) patients had complications. Seventy-seven (95.1%) patients were discharged within 24 hours of surgery, while four (9.4%) patients were discharged within 48 hours. There was no mortality.Conclusions: The short-stay thyroidectomy model is feasible and safe in our environment, even in the presence of limited resources, and provides an alternative to the traditional 72 hour postoperative hospital stay.

Background: Breast conserving surgery is the treatment of choice in the surgical management of early-stage breast cancer in developed countries, while mastectomy has remained the most practiced surgical treatment in developing countries. The aim of the study was to describe the outcomes of a cohort of patients who had breast conserving surgery in a developing country. Methods: The study is a retrospective review of patients who were offered breast conserving surgery between January 2018 and December 2020 at the Jos University Teaching Hospital and FOMAS Hospital. Results: A total of 110 female patients had surgery for breast cancer in the study period. Of this number, eleven (10%) patients whose ages ranged from 28-70 years with a mean age of 53.5 years (SD=12.9 years) had breast conserving surgery, while 99 (90%) had mastectomy. A painless lump on self-breast examination was the most common reason for presentation in those who had breast conserving surgery. Most of the patients who had breast conserving surgery presented with tumor stage T2N1M0. Quadrantectomy was done in 7 (63.6%) patients while 4 (36.4%) had wide local excision. No patient developed any postoperative complication. No patient required re-excision due to positive margins. Three (27.3%) patients had only adjuvant hormonal therapy. Eight (72.7%) patients had radiotherapy following surgery, while 3 (27.3%) patients had only breast conserving surgery for loco-regional control. All patients had a minimum follow up of 2 years with no recurrence or mortality. Conclusions: Breast conserving surgery can be safely practiced as an alternative to mastectomy in carefully selected patients with early breast cancer with good outcomes.

Background: To present this experience using the fundus-first technique during laparoscopic cholecystectomy for the management of symptomatic gall stone disease with an intra-operative finding of Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome.Methods: This is a prospective review of patients who had the fundus-first dissection during laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The study was carried out at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), and FOMAS hospital, both of which are tertiary hospitals located in Jos. Patients were recruited from January 2017 - January 2019. All patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy who had an intraoperative diagnosis of Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome, and who had the fundus-first dissection, were included in the study. Patients who had fundus-first dissection for indications other than Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome, were excluded from the study. Demographic and clinical information of patients included age, sex, duration of surgery, complications, and duration of hospital stay. Descriptive statistics were applied.Results: A total of 76 patients had elective laparoscopic cholecystectomies over the study period. Of that number, 17 (22.4%) patients had an intra- operative diagnosis of Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome, and had the fundus-first dissection. The mean patient age was 46.3 years (SD = 11.7 years). All patients were female. The mean operating time was 70 minutes (SD = 23 minutes). The duration of hospital stay was 24 hours. There was one conversion due to uncontrollable intraoperative bleeding.Conclusions: This study revealed that the fundus-first dissection is suitable for removing the gall bladder during laparoscopic cholecystectomy in patients with gall stone disease, and an intraoperative finding of Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome.

Background: Congenital anterior abdominal wall defects (AAWD) is a spectrum of abdominal wall defects that includes omphalocele, gastroschisis, bladder exstrophy, cloacal exstrophy, prune belly syndrome and pentalogy of Cantrell. Early Prenatal diagnosis of AAWD provides opportunity for abnormal karyotypes screening and planned delivery in a specialized centre. Ultrasound can detect these defects during pregnancy. This study aims to evaluate the detection rate of AAWD during routine obstetric ultrasonography in our region.Methods: A retrospective study of all patients that presented with AAWD to our centre from January 2008 to July 2020. Data included patient’s age, sex, birth weight, diagnosis, resuscitation time, outcome, maternal age, parity and antenatal ultrasound scan (USS) records. Antenatal USS before 12 weeks only, were excluded. Data analysed using excel.Results: Of the 140 with AAWD, 84.29% had omphalocele, 10% gastroschisis, 2.14% prune belly syndrome and 0.71% each with bladder exstrophy, cloacal exstrophy and pentalogy of Cantrell. There were 123 booked pregnancies. Majority (112) had antenatal care elsewhere while 11 attended our Centre. Ultrasonography of 108 pregnancies scanned at12 weeks or beyond, had 4 confirmed prenatal diagnosis of AAWD. All done in our centre. Mean gestational age at diagnosis was 24weeks. Outcome was rupture1 (25%) and 25% mortality (prenatally diagnosed) and 51.92% mortality for patients with missed diagnosis.Conclusions: Our obstetric ultrasound detection rate of AAWD is very low. There is a need for improvement in training to improve perinatal care of these defects.