Background Ceruminal gland carcinomas are rare neoplasms confined to the skin lining the cartilaginous part of the external auditory canal. Design Retrospective. Results The patients included 11 men and 6 women, aged 33–82 years (mean, 59.5 years). Patients presented clinically with a mass of the outer half of the external auditory canal (n = 14), hearing changes (n = 5), drainage (n = 4), or paralysis of the facial nerve (n = 3). The polypoid masses ranged in size from 0.5 to 3 cm in greatest dimension (mean, 1.8 cm). Histologically, the tumors demonstrated a solid to cystic pattern, composed of an infiltrating glandular to cribriform arrangement of epithelial cells. Histologic features included a dual cell population (although not the dominant histology), increased cellularity, moderate to severe nuclear pleomorphism, irregular nucleoli, increased mitotic figures (mean, 3/10 HPF), including atypical forms, and tumor necrosis (n = 2). Tumors were divided into three types of adenocarcinoma based on pattern of growth and cell type (ceruminous, NOS [n = 12], adenoid cystic [n = 4], mucoepidermoid [n = 1]). CK7 and CD117 highlighted the luminal cells, while S1-00 protein showed a predilection for the basal cells of ceruminous and adenoid cystic carcinomas. Metastatic adenocarcinoma or direct extension from salivary gland neoplasms are the principle differential considerations. Surgical resection was used in all patients with radiation used in four patients. Eleven patients were alive or had died of unrelated causes without evidence of disease (mean, 11.2 years); six patients had died with disease (mean, 4.9 years), all of whom had developed local recurrence. Conclusion Ceruminous-type carcinomas, with the exception of ceruminous mucoepidermoid carcinoma, all demonstrated a dual cell population of basal myoepithelial-type cells and luminal apocrine cells. The specific histologic sub-type does not influence the long-term patient outcome.

IntroductionOnabotulinumtoxinA (OBTA) is approved for treating chronic headaches and migraines in adults, but there is limited scientific literature on the outcomes in pediatric patients. The aim of this study was to determine if subjects treated with OBTA reported a statistically significant improvement in the primary features (frequency, intensity, duration and disability scoring) associated with migraines compared with placebo at follow-up visits.MethodsAfter obtaining approval by the appropriate local (HS# 2016–3108) and federal institutions, the principal investigator enrolled candidates aged 8 to 17 years old diagnosed with chronic migraines (at least 6 months), and 15 or more headache days in a 4-week baseline period. This randomized control trial consisted of two phases: double-blind and open-label for the first two and last two sets of treatments, respectively. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive a treatment protocol—155 units at 31 injection sites—in 3-month intervals and follow-up visits every 6 weeks. Non-parametric testing (Wilcoxon signed-rank test) was performed using widely available open-source statistical software (‘R’).ResultsFrom February 2017 to November 2018, 17 subjects presented for a screening visit; 15 met eligibility criteria. Subjects that received OBTA reported a statistically significant decrease from the following baseline values compared with placebo 6-week post-treatment compared with placebo: frequency (20 (7 to 17) vs 28 (23 to 28); p=0.038), intensity (5 (3 to 7) vs 7 (5 to 9); p=0.047), and PedMIDAS (Pediatric Migraine Disability Score) (3 (2 to 4) vs 4 (4 to 4); p=0.047). There was no statistically significant difference in the duration (10 (2 to 24) vs 24 (4 to 24); p=0.148) of migraines between the two groups.DiscussionOnabotulinumtoxinA showed a statistically significant decrease in frequency and intensity of migraines compared with placebo. No adverse effects or serious adverse events related to the use of OBTA were reported. In the future, we aim to evaluate the specific nature of migraines, for example, quality/location of pain presented during an initial consult to predict the likelihood of OBTA being a truly effective modality of pain management for pediatric migraineurs.Trial registration numberNCT03055767.

Foley catheters (FCs) are often used during inguinal hernia operations; however, the impact of intraoperative FC use on postoperative urinary retention (POUR) is not well understood. We reviewed unplanned returns to the urgent care or ED for 27,012 inguinal hernia operations across 15 Southern California Kaiser Permanente medical centers over 6.5 years. In total, 239 (0.88%) patients returned to urgent care/ED with POUR [235 (98%) men versus 4 (2%) women]. Overall, POUR increased with age ( P < 0.00001). POUR was higher in open repairs using general anesthesia versus local with monitored anesthesia care (0.7% vs 0.3%, P < 0.0001). Of 5,017 laparoscopic operations, 28 per cent had FC use. Although POUR was greater for laparoscopic versus open operations (2.21 vs 0.58%, P < 0.00001), there was no difference in POUR for intraoperative FC versus no FC use in the laparoscopic approach (2.36% vs 2.15%, P = 0.33). For all laparoscopic operations, there was no difference in urinary tract infection within 7 or 30 days when comparing intra-operative FC versus no FC use ( P = 0.28). POUR can be minimized by avoiding general anesthesia for open inguinal hernia repairs, but intraoperative FC use does not affect POUR or urinary tract infection rates for laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair.

With rates up to 50 per cent, unanticipated returns after anorectal surgery remain a major issue. A retrospective analysis was performed on 5929 anorectal operations from January 2011 to December 2015 across 14 Kaiser Permanente Southern California medical centers. Data were gathered on the cause, frequency and timing of unplanned returns to the ED and urgent care. Of all patients, 246 (4%) returned with a nonavoidable diagnosis and 243 (4%) returned with one of four avoidable diagnoses: pain, constipation, urinary retention, and nausea/vomiting. Seventy four per cent of avoidable diagnoses returns occurred within the first four postoperative days, with 48 per cent between days 2 and 4. In patients older than 50 years of age, males showed higher urinary retention (P = 0.001), whereas females had higher constipation (P < 0.001). Contrarily, pain was higher for both males (P = 0.02) and females (P < 0.001) less than 50 years old. In a separate subanalysis on anesthesia type, both constipation (P = 0.03) and urinary retention (P = 0.01) showed double the return rate in the general versus local/monitored anesthesia care group, whereas pain (P = 0.15) and nausea/vomiting (P = 0.20) showed no differences. Half of returns fall into a category that is potentially avoidable with preemptive interventions.