Background: Hypocalcaemia is one of the acute and most feared complication following thyroidectomy. Depending upon the extent of parathyroid damage, post-operative hypocalcaemia may be temporary or permanent requiring lifelong calcium supplements. Aims and objectives: This study aims to prospectively study and analyse the demographics and possible causes of hypocalcaemia post thyroidectomy.Methods: This is a prospective study of 150 patients undergoing thyroidectomy surgery from January 2015 to December 2015 in Victoria hospital, Bangalore medical college and research institute, Bangalore. Patients demographics, intra operative and pathological aspects were correlated to our hypocalcaemic findings.Results: Out of 150 patients, 18 patients developed temporary hypocalcaemia (12%), none of them developed permanent hypocalcaemia. Mean age of patients developing hypocalcaemia was 45.16 years. 15 (83.33%) of them were females and 3 (16.66%) were male. Hypocalcaemia was found in 9% in multinodular goitre (9 out of 99 patients), 20% in papillary carcinoma (3 out of 15 patients) and 40 % in follicular neoplasm (6 out of 15 patients). Near total thyroidectomy was the procedure in 105(70%) patients, 3 from them (2.86%) developed hypocalcaemia and the other 15 out of 45 cases (30%) were after total thyroidectomy. Mean duration of surgery was 101 mins. Average no of parathyroid glands identified was 2. Conclusion: Risk factor for development of hypocalcaemia is multifactorial. The recommended surgical strategy is meticulous dissection and preservation of at least one parathyroid gland and their blood supply to prevent permanent hypocalcaemia.

Background: Penetrating abdominal trauma is a commonly encountered emergency surgical condition. Though it is less common compared to blunt abdominal trauma, it is more dramatic due to the nature of the causative modes of injury involved. Mandatory laparotomy, which was earlier advocated for these cases, has gradually been replaced by conservative management in carefully selected cases thereby avoiding the unnecessary complications associated with laparotomy. Aims and objectives: To study the efficacy of conservative management in cases of penetrating abdominal trauma thereby obviating the need for unnecessary laparotomy. Methods: It was a prospective study conducted in a tertiary hospital, involving 64 patients, over a 2 year period. All patients underwent a CT scan to identify their injuries following a clinical examination and patients were managed conservatively or underwent laparotomy based on the CT findings.Results: Of the 64 patients 53 were managed conservatively making it a success rate of 82.81%. Only 2 patients who had a negative CT scan needed a subsequent laparotomy making it a very reliable investigation in these patients. Conclusion: Conservative management for penetrating abdominal trauma patients is effective in the majority of cases and hence can be advocated in the initial management plan of these cases supplemented by serial assessment of physical symptoms and signs, unless laparotomy is considered necessary based on their initial CT or physical examination findings.