BackgroundHospital-acquired infections (HAIs), one of the leading causes of, morbidity and mortality, are common in developing countries. Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), commonest cause of HAIs, has been isolated from the hands of more than half of health care workers. Practice of hand hygiene may help in the control of nosocomial infections. We evaluated the practice of infection control among health care workers in the intensive care unit (ICU) of our hospital.Materials and methodsThis is a descriptive cross-sectional study. Information on knowledge, awareness and practice of infection control in the ICU were obtained from health care workers with the aid of a structured questionnaire.ResultsSixty nine out of the 80 (86%) respondents had good knowledge that a hand is the most common vehicle of transmission of infection. However, 53.8% and 32.5% of the respondents had knowledge of movement of hand hygiene and practiced six steps of the hand washing technique respectively. Though, physicians accounted for 68 (85%) of the respondents, only 28% of them practiced the six steps of the hand washing technique with resident doctors constituting a large proportion of hand washing technique defaulters. Only 13.9% of non-physician and 7.5% of physician respondents had ever attended a training program on infection control respectivelyConclusionKnowledge and awareness of infection control among the health care workers in our ICU is good but the practice is poor. Training workshop on infection control should be organized for all ICU health care workers to reduce noso-comial infections.

Introduction: Bone graft is harvested from bone and used to stimulate bone healing due to its properties. The aims of the study were to compare the quantity of graft harvested from proximal tibia and iliac crest, and the complications at these donor sites.Materials and Methods: This was a prospective study carried out on all consecutive patients who had orthopaedic procedures that required bone grafting at the study centre, from April, 2015 to March, 2016.Results: During the study period, 86 patients were recruited; 43 of these patients had bone graft harvested from the proximal tibia, while the other 43 patients had graft harvested from the iliac crest. There were 53 males, and 33 females. Mean age of patients was 41.2 ± 11 years and 40.8 ± 16 years, for proximal tibia and iliac crest group respectively. Average compressed volume of graft harvested from proximal tibia and iliac crest were 7cm3 and 5.5cm3 respectively. Non-unions were the commonest indications for bone grafting, femur was the commonest bone requiring bone grafting. Complications such as primary haemorrhage, pain and surgical site infection were commoner with iliac crest than proximal tibia donor sites, however bone graft harvested from both proximal tibia and iliac crest provided adequate bone union of the indicated procedure.Conclusion: Larger quantity of graft can be harvested from proximal tibia than the iliac crest. Though graft harvested from both the proximal tibia and the iliac crest have good healing properties, the proximal tibia donor site gave less complication than the iliac crest.

Background:Closed, locked intramedullary nailing has been accepted as the gold standard in the care of femoral fractures, with reported union rates as high as 98–100%. Closed, locked intramedullary nailing often requires expensive equipment which is a challenge in developing countries. Segmental long bone fractures are often a result of high-energy trauma and hence often associated with a lot of injuries to the surrounding soft tissues. This consequently results in higher rates of delayed or nonunion. This study was proposed to review the outcome of management of segmental fractures with locked intramedullary nails, using an open method of reduction.Methods:A retrospective analysis was made of data obtained from all segmental long bone fractures treated with intramedullary nailing over a 1-year period. Records were retrieved from the folders of patients operated on from January 2011 to December 2011. Patients were followed up for a minimum of 1 year after the surgery.Results:We managed a total of 12 segmental long bone fractures in 11 patients. Eight of the 12 fractures were femoral fractures and 10 of the fractures were closed fractures. All but one fracture (91.7%) achieved union within 4 months with no major complications.Conclusions:Open method of locked intramedullary nailing achieves satisfactory results when used for the management of long bone fractures. The method can be used for segmental fractures of the humerus, femur, and tibia, with high union rates. This is particularly useful in low-income societies where the use of intraoperative imaging may be unavailable or unaffordable. It gives patients in such societies, a chance for comparable outcomes in terms of union rates as well as avoidance of major complications. Larger prospective studies will be necessary to conclusively validate the efficacy of this fixation method in this environment.

Multiple pathologic fractures secondary to parathyroid adenoma is rarely recognized and reported in the tropics. Inadequate evaluation causes worsened disability and increased psychological stress. We present a 27-year-old Nigerian male student with recurrent unexplained pathological fractures of the long bones. Primary Hyperparathyroidism was later diagnosed and he benefited from a unilateral parathyroidectomy. Primary hyperparathyroidism secondary to parathyroid adenoma is difficult to diagnose and needs a high index of suspicion. Surgery and good post-operative biochemical control of serum calcium produce satisfying outcomes.