Introduction: A number of medicinal compounds are manufactured with great exactness and simply from easily available raw materials at normal temperature and pressure from highly sophisticated chemical factories called plants and its parts. There are many methods of research associated with the medicinal plants and traditional medicine has shown very little attention in modern research and less effort has been done to upgrade the practice of using medicinal plants. Aim: To assess the antibacterial activity of Ricinus communis leaf extracts against common human pathogens obtained from surgical wound infections in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Microbiology of a Tertiary Care teaching Hospital for a period of one month in January 2021. The pathogenic bacteria isolated from the surgical wounds were used for this study and the antibacterial activity of medicinal herb leaf extract Ricinus communis L. was investigated against gram positive bacteria and gram negative bacteria. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done as per Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion technique using the extract, ampicillin as positive control and Dimethyl Sulphoxide (DMSO) as negative control. The zones of inhibition were measured using a special measuring scale. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and the Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) of the medicinal plant were also tested against the same pathogenic bacterial strains that were isolated. The statistical analysis of frequency and mean were calculated and the results were tabulated. Results: The methanol crude extract of plant leaves (300 mg/ ml) showed significant zone of inhibition against gram positive and gram negative bacteria. Comparatively, very less zone of inhibition was obtained from the aqueous unrefined extract of medicinal plant when compared to the methanol solvent extracts. DMSO was taken as negative control and no zone of inhibition was seen. Ampicillin (10 μg) was taken as positive control and has shown significant zone of inhibition against the isolated bacterial pathogens from wound infections. The best MBC value was observed in the methanol extract and in aqueous extract, the growth was extensive and full. Conclusion: Ricinus communis concentrated methanol leaf extract had shown effective antibacterial activity in comparison with the standard ampicillin. Based on further chemical, pharmacological and molecular studies in the future on this leaf extract and identify phytochemical constituents in the leaf, seed, stem, roots and to screen other potential bioactivities of the leaf extract may be recommended for the treatment of wounds.

Background: Coffee has a stimulant nature for which it is consumed worldwide, especially in Indian subcontinent. It also contains various antioxidant and antibacterial properties and is good for health. Aims and Objectives: This study done in tertiary care teaching hospital, aims to assess the antibacterial activity of coffee extract in surgical wound infections. Materials and Methods: The antibacterial activity of coffee extract against pathogenic bacteria (Gram-positive and Gram-negative) isolated from the surgical wounds was tested. Results: Both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria were found sensitive to the methanol coffee extract. Conclusion: Our study revealed that coffee extract can be used in the future as a substitute antimicrobial for the treatment of pathogenic bacteria due to its wide antimicrobial activity and we suggest advanced study on coffee extract to explore the bioactive compounds accountable for the detected antimicrobial activity.

Background and Aims: Bupivacaine and lidocaine mixtures are the commonly used local anesthetic drugs for the peribulbar blocks. Because of its safe anesthetic profile, ropivacaine is being investigated as an alternative agent. Several centers have evaluated the effect of the addition of an adjuvant like dexmedetomidine (DMT) to ropivacaine in enhancing the block characteristics. We proposed to evaluate the effect of the addition of DMT to ropivacaine versus a control group not having DMT as adjuvant. Material and Methods: A prospective, randomized comparative study was conducted on a total of 80 patients attending our hospital for cataract surgeries. Patients were allocated into four groups of 20 each ( n = 20) and peribulbar blocks were given 6 mL of 0.75% ropivacaine in group R and 6 mL of 0.75% ropivacaine plus 10 μg, 15 μg, and 20 μg DMT, respectively, in groups RD1, RD2, and RD3. Results: When DMT was used as an adjunct to ropivacaine, there was a prolongation of the duration of the sensory block. Conclusion: In peribulbar blocks, 6 mL of ropivacaine 0.75% produces satisfactory block characteristics, and the addition of 10 μg, 15 μg, or 20 μg of DMT as an adjuvant to ropivacaine 0.75% had the effect of significantly prolonging the duration of the sensory block, which is directly proportional to the dose of DMT employed. However, 20 μg of DMT added as an adjuvant to ropivacaine 0.75% appears to be the optimal dose, as this anesthetic drug mixture provides maximum prolongation of the sensory block besides providing satisfactory operating conditions, acceptable sedation levels, and stable hemodynamic parameters.