BACKGROUND:Although Turkey hosts the largest number of Syrian immigrants, the interpretation of their health problems seems to be inadequate and understudied. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether being a refugee is a prognostic factor or not for peptic ulcer perforation (PUP). METHODS:A retrospective study was designed in Turkish Citizen patients and the refugees to compare the prognosis who underwent surgery for PUP. After ethical committee approval, the data of 143 patients, constituting 130 males and 13 females, operated for PUP, were collected. Patients' files, surgery notes and outpatient policlinic data were evaluated. RESULTS:In this study, 105 patients were Turkish Citizen, while the remaining 38 patients were refugees. Eight (7.6%) Turkish and one (2.6%) refugee patient died. There was no statistical significance between the two groups concerning mortality (p=0.445). Age, perforation diameter and localization, need of reoperation, nasogastric tube detention time, CRP, hematocrit, albumin, creatinine, BUN levels were found statistically significant for mortality. CONCLUSION:Although being a refugee has been identified as a risk in the etiopathogenesis of peptic ulcer disease, we found that being a refugee in Turkey is not a negative prognostic factor for PUP.

Aim: Symptomatic hemorrhoidal disease is among the most common surgical diseases and it may necessitate surgical intervention. The most common and effective approaches used for surgical treatment are harmonic scalpel hemorrhoidectomy and conventional diathermy excision. The aim of the study was to compare the outcomes of hemorrhoidectomy using harmonic scalpel and the conventional diathermy excision techniques. Methods: The files of 113 consecutively operated patients (26 females 23%, 87 males 77%), who were operated on for symptomatic Grade III-IV hemorrhoids, were retrospectively reviewed for length of operation and hospitalization, early and delayed bleeding, urinary retention, postoperative abscess and anal stenosis. Exclusion criteria were additional operations, recurrent cases and inflammatory bowel disease. Results: Conventional diathermy hemorrhoidectomy in 60 (53%) and harmonic scalpel hemorrhoidectomy were used in 53 patients (47%). There were significant differences between the operation and hospitalization times in favor of harmonic scalpel group (p<0.05 for both). The other parameters did not show any significant differences (p>0.05 for all). Conclusion: Harmonic scalpel hemorrhoidectomy is advantageous and superior to conventional diathermy hemorrhoidectomy in regard to shorter operation time and earlier discharge from the hospital with no additonal complications. Keywords: Harmonic, Hemorrhoidectomy, Scalpel, Surgery, Technique Öz Amaç: Semptomatik hemoroidal hastalık, en yaygın cerrahi hastalıklar arasındadır ve tedavide cerrahi müdahale gerekebilir. Cerrahi tedavide etkili yaklaşımlar harmonik bistüri ile hemoroidektomi ve konvansiyonel diyatermi ile eksizyondur. Çalışmanın amacı, harmonik bistüri ve konvansiyonel diyatermi eksizyon teknikleriyle yapılan hemoroidektomi sonuçlarını karşılaştırmaktı. Yöntemler: Semptomatik Evre III-IV hemoroid nedeniyle ardışık operasyon yapılan 113 hasta (26 kadın, % 23; 87 erkek, % 77) dosyaları retrospektif olarak incelendi ve operasyon ve hastanede kalış süresi, erken ve gecikmiş kanama, idrar yapmada zorluk, postoperatif apse ve anal stenoz araştırıldı. Dışlama kriterleri; ek cerrahi uygulanması, rekürren vakalar ve inflamatuvar bağırsak hastalığı idi. Bulgular: Altmış hastada (%53) konvansiyonel diyatermi ile hemoroidektomi ve 53 hastada (%47) harmonik bistüri ile hemoroidektomi uygulandı. Operasyon ve yatış süreleri arasında harmonik bistüri grubu lehine anlamlı farklılık tespit edildi (her ikisi için p<0,05). Diğer parametrelerde anlamlı bir farklılık yoktu (hepsi için p>0,05). Sonuç: Harmonik bistüri ile hemoroidektomi, ameliyat süresinin kısa olması ve hastaneden daha erken taburcu olmasına karşın ek bir komplikasyona rastlanmadığı için konvansiyonel diyatermi hemoroidektomisine göre avantajlıdır.