Background Although chemotherapy was first introduced for the treatment of cancer more than 60 years ago, the public understanding and acceptance of chemotherapy is still debatable. To the best of our knowledge, no study has assessed the conversations and misconceptions about chemotherapy as a treatment for cancer on social media platforms among the Arabic-speaking populations. Objective The aim of this study was to assess the types of conversations and misconceptions that were shared on Twitter regarding chemotherapy as a treatment for cancer among the Arabic-speaking populations. Methods All Arabic tweets containing any of the representative set of keywords related to chemotherapy and written between May 1, 2017 and October 31, 2017 were retrieved. A manual content analysis was performed to identify the categories of the users, general themes of the tweets, and the common misconceptions about chemotherapy. A chi-square test for independence with adjusted residuals was used to assess the significant associations between the categories of the users and the themes of the tweets. Results A total of 402,157 tweets were retrieved, of which, we excluded 309,602 retweets and 62,651 irrelevant tweets. Therefore, 29,904 tweets were included in the final analysis. The majority of the tweets were posted by general users (25,774/29,904, 86.2%), followed by the relatives and friends of patients with cancer (1913/29,904, 6.4%). The tweets were classified into 9 themes; prayers and wishes for the well-being of patients undergoing chemotherapy was the most common theme (20,288/29,904, 67.8%), followed by misconceptions about chemotherapy (2084/29,904, 7.0%). There was a highly significant association between the category of the users and the themes of the tweets (χ240= 16904.4, P<.001). Conclusions Our findings support those of the previous infodemiology studies that Twitter is a valuable social media platform for assessing public conversations, discussions, and misconceptions about various health-related topics. The most prevalent theme of the tweets in our sample population was supportive messages for the patients undergoing chemotherapy, thereby suggesting that Twitter could play a role as a support mechanism for such patients. The second most prevalent theme of the tweets in our study was the various misconceptions about chemotherapy. The findings of our exploratory analysis can help physicians and health care organizations tailor educational efforts in the future to address different misconceptions about chemotherapy, thereby leading to increased public acceptance of chemotherapy as a suitable mode of treatment for cancer.
HighlightsBiliary atresia is a rare condition that causes jaundice in neonates.An association between biliary atresia and other developmental abnormalities has been reported.A presentation of biliary atresia with intestinal malrotation and situs ambiguous is extremely rare.The diagnosis and surgical management of such cases require meticulous evaluation.The use of post-operative steroids remains controversial.
Retrograde jejuno-jejunal intussusception is a rare complication of bariatric surgeries. It causes acute sudden symptoms that require immediate surgical intervention. We report a case of a 46-year-old female who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (REYGP) 3 years prior. The patient presented to the emergency department with acute sudden abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Laparoscopically, intussuscepting small bowel segment was found gangrenous, and it was resected and end-to-end anastomoses were fashioned. The postoperative course was uneventful, and the patient remained asymptomatic for the 12 months of follow-up. Patients with retrograde intussusception experience an intolerable severe pain that necessitates surgical intervention. The etiology of intussusception as a complication after REYGP is unclear, yet theoretically some possible etiologies exist. The initial diagnosis of retrograde intussusception is made based on abdominal computed tomography. Early intervention significantly reduces morbidity and mortality.
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