Venous access procedures are painful and feared by children and their parents. Virtual reality has become increasingly prominent and has been shown to be effective in various procedures. The aim of this meta-analysis was to examine virtual reality's effect on pain and fear in children from 4 to 12 in the context of vascular access. From the 20th to the 26th December 2020, we searched Sciencedirect, Springerlink, CENTRAL, Pubmed and PMC. Studies using virtual reality versus a control in vascular access for children were included in a meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of virtual reality regarding pain as a primary and fear/anxiety as a secondary endpoint during the procedures. The Jadad scale and Delphi List were used to assess study quality. 20,894 citations were identified, 9 met our inclusion criteria. One publication was conducted in two different situations and was thus considered as 2 studies. Compared to standard of care, virtual reality significantly reduced pain (10 studies, 930 participants: standardized mean difference [SMD] 2.54, 95%CI 0.14-4.93, p = 0.038), and fear/anxiety (6 studies, 648 participants: SMD 0.89, 95%Cl 0.16-1.63, p = 0.017). For both parameters, we found significant heterogeneity between studies. This is the first meta-analysis to look at the use virtual reality in young children undergoing vascular access procedures, providing weak to moderate evidence for its use. Although large effect sizes provide evidence for a positive effect of virtual reality in reducing pain and fear, there is significant heterogeneity between studies. More research with larger groups and age stratification is required.

Rectitis caused by the administration of a caustic enema is uncommonly encountered in routine clinical practice. The reasons given for the application of caustic enemas are diverse, including but not limited to suicide attempts, murder attempts, iatrogenic causes and simple mistakes. When caustic enemas do occur the consequences can be dire, resulting in extensive injury. These injuries often prove fatal in the short term, but if the patient survives the initial injuries, they may subsequently cause severe disability. Treatment can be conservative but commonly involves surgery, with a significant proportion of patients not surviving the intervention or succumbing to complications thereafter. We present the case of a patient with a history of alcoholism, depression and a recent recurrence of oesophageal cancer who self-administered a hydrochloric acid enema in an attempted suicide. The patient subsequently suffered a stenosis of the lower bowel, resulting in diarrhoea. A colostomy was performed in order to alleviate the patient's symptoms and improve their comfort.

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Portal and splenic vein thrombosis are uncommon, potentially fatal post-operative complications following splenectomy. These thrombotic events may be asymptomatic or present with non-specific symptoms. Therefore, imaging is important for diagnosis. The risk of thrombosis is linked to spleen size, pre-operative thrombocytopenia and surgical technique. We present the case of a 40-year-old man who underwent curative and diagnostic laparotomic splenectomy following chronic thrombocytopenia and concurrent splenomegaly who subsequently developed extensive portal and splenic vein thrombosis.Teaching Point: Portal and splenic vein thrombosis after splenectomy is a relatively uncommon but important diagnosis in which radiology has a pivotal role.