Fifty patients with thoracolumbar fractures were treated operatively between July 2000 and December 2001. The average age of the patients was 33.6 years (range: 20-50 years), 36 were males and 14 were females and the follow-up averaged 59 months (range: 49-68 months). A fall from a height, usually a tree, was the most common cause of injury. Twenty six patients had unstable burst fractures and 13 had translational injury. There were 15 patients with complete neurological deficit, 17 had partial neurological lesions, while 18 had no neurological deficit. All patients were treated by posterior short segment fixation (Steffee VSP). The average pre-operative kyphotic angle was 21.48°, which improved to 12.86°in the immediate post-operative period. The loss of kyphosis averaged 3.46°(0-26°) at the final follow-up. The average pre-operative anterior vertebral body height was 44.7% (range: 36-90%), which improved to 72.0% (range: 55-97%) in the immediate post-operative period. The loss of body height averaged 3.0% (range: 1-15%) at the final follow-up. No neurological deterioration was seen, and in 24 cases a one grade or better improvement was observed. The mean pain score was 1.6, and the mean functional score was 2.8. We found that the application of posterior instrumentation resulted in a reasonable correction of the deformity with a significant reduction in recumbency-associated complications; there were, however, significant other complications. (1-15) au suivi final. Aucune dégradation neurologique n'a été constatée. Une amélioration a été retrouvée dans 24 cas le score douleur moyen a été de 1.6 le score fonction de 2.8. Une instrumentation postérieure permet une correction raisonnable de la déformation avec une réduction significative des complications.

Open complete dislocation of the trapezium is an extraordinarily rare injury with only a few cases reported so far in literature. The association of a vertically split fracture makes this injury even rare and hence worth reporting. A 14 year old Kashmiri boy presented to us with a history of massive trauma to the non dominant left hand sustained as a result of a blow from a heavy hammer. The thenar area was burst out and the trapezium was vertically split apart into two halves which were dislocated from the articular surfaces of the scaphoid as well as the first metacarpal. The mechanism of injury as in other such reported cases was a massive direct force localized over the carpal bone which causes its enucleation and fracture. Although some authors have recommended excision of the dislocated trapezium, open reduction of the fracture dislocation and fixation with K wires was carried out under General anesthesia. At the end of one year although there was some functional deficit in the affected thumb, especially in opposition, the patient was quite satisfied with the outcome as this was the non dominant hand.

Introduction: Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) affected the healthcare system worldwide. The golden rules of fracture fixation and early mobilisation of patients was not strictly followed, because of fear of spread of the disease among the patients and healthcare workers. Early surgery and prompt postoperative ambulation improves outcomes for patients with hip fractures, but the morbidity and mortality were high in the patients who were operated upon, when having an active infection of COVID-19 virus. Aim: To study the short-term outcome of delayed fixation of hip fractures in coronavirus positive patient in terms of postoperative infection, union at the fracture, deep vein thrombosis and mortality. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective cohort study carried out in Government Medical College, Srinagar, Kashmir, India from April 2020 to September 2020. Delayed surgery using different methods of fixation was performed in patients with hip fractures who had active COVID-19 infection. The patients were followed for a period of six months. Short-term mortality and complications if any were recorded. Results were expressed in terms of frequency and percentages and analysed by Microsoft Excel 2016. Results: Among the 24 operated patients, males were 9 (37.5%) and females were 15 (62.5%). Of the total, 14 (58.33%) were intertrochanteric fractures, 6 (25%) were femoral neck fractures and 4 (16.67%) were subtrochanteric fractures. Dynamic hip screw was used to treat 15 (62.5%) patients. Age ranged from 39 to 82 years mean age was 51.04 years. Majority of patients, 16 (66.67%) sustained hip fractures after a low velocity fall from standing height. Delay in surgery was 15 to 21 days (Average-18.25 days). Two elderly patients died after 14 weeks of follow-up due to causes else than respiratory failure. Three patients developed superficial infection which settled with oral antibiotics. No case of deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary thrombo embolism was observed in the present study. Conclusion: Despite the delay, the mortality rate in the early postoperative period was less. The present study findings suggest that hip fracture patients who present with COVID-19 infection can safely undergo delayed surgical intervention after appropriate medical optimisation.

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Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis is a serious event in patients with liver cirrhosis and associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Most common causative organisms of SBP are E.coli, streptococcus pneumonia and klebsiella. Liver cirrhosis has multifactorial etiology and the most common causes in our country are hepatitis C and hepatitis B. Objectives: (1) To observe the culture and sensitivity pattern of ascitic fluid in patients with liver cirrhosis. (2) To examine the resistance against various antibiotics. Period: 6 months. Setting: Study was conducted in department of Gastroenterology Hepatology in collaboration with department of microbiology of Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore. Materials and Methods: Sample size; 80 patients of liver cirrhosis with ascites. Sampling technique, Non probability purposive technique was adopted. Sample selection; By Inclusion and Exclusion criteria. Data collection procedure; Eighty patients with liver cirrhosis and ascites diagnosed on the basis of history, examination and ultrasound findings. After detailed history examination and full aseptic measures at least 10 ml of ascitic fluid in 20ml syringe with 16G needle was drawn in blood culture bottle at bed side and was sent to microbiology laboratory for culture and sensitivity and record of resistance and sensitivity against various antibiotics used to treat SBP. Data analysis procedure; Data was analyzed by SPSS version 10.Quantitative variables and were recorded as mean + S.D and qualitative variables, were recorded as frequencies and percentages. Results: Out of 80 patients with suspected SBP 38(47.5%) were culture positive while 42(52.5%) were culture negative. Among these 14(36.84%) showed gram positive growth and 20(52.63%) gram negative growth while 4(10.52%) showed anaerobes. Most of the organisms were resistant to ceftazidim, cefoperazone & augmentin while sensitive to levofloxacin, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime and ciprofloxacin. Highest resistance was against ceoftazidim which was 36(95%) followed by cefoperazone 35(92%). Conclusions: Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis is devastating complication of liver cirrhosis and ascites and is a leading cause of disability and death in patients with chronic liver disease. Early diagnosis and treatment with proper antibiotics and dosage are necessary for better outcome.