Pleuropulmonary complications of pancreatitis are well known. Less commonly encountered is pancreaticopleural fistula. We describe the case of a 15-year-old boy with a presumed episode of pancreatitis, complicated by pseudocyst and development of a pancreaticopleural fistula. Successful medical management was achieved, and he made a full recovery. This case demonstrates that the rarity of such a condition leads to delay as well as challenges in diagnosis and management.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic and its consequences on general surgery residents. Methods: Cross-sectional, survey based study including surgical residents in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Kingdom of Bahrain. Results: Surgical trainees who participated in our survey (n=234) were young (mean age 28), single (53.8%), and males (65.8%). Approximately half (50.4%) have been deployed to cover the staff shortage in intensive care units (ICUs) or emergency departments (EDs). Half of our trainees (117) scored positive in the screening tool of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). There was a significant association between experiencing anxiety and male gender ( p =0.055), level of training ( p =0.002), deployment to cover ICUs ( p =0.050), testing positive for COVID-19 ( p =0.054) and having an infected family member ( p =0.004). Conclusion: Coronavirus-19 pandemic has a serious effect on all healthcare workers and surgical residents have experienced a considerable amount of stress. Accordingly, this psychological burden should be appropriately addressed in organizations planning strategies. We suggest formulating guidelines to help surgical trainees to continue their learning process with least psychological burden.

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 is an emerging highly communicable disease. Nosocomial transmission needs to be prevented through the implementation of stringent screening and infection control measures. Objective The objective of the study is to estimate the prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome– coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection among health care workers (HCWs) post quarantine period. Methods This is a prospective, observational study conducted at a teaching University hospital in Alkhobar, Saudi Arabia, during the period between May 1 and June 15, 2020. All (HCWs) joining work back from the quarantine areas had a real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) test for SARS-CoV-2. The demographic and clinical data from the staff were collected. Results Of the 301 HCWs screened, 18 (6%) had positive PCR. The age means of the positive cases was 32.9 Y ± 8.7 compared to 33.8 Y ± 7.0 in the negatively tested group (p value = 0.90). Of the 18 PCR-positive HCWs, 7 (38.9%) were male. Majority of those who tested positive were trainees (8.2%) followed by nurses (5.1%). In PCR-positive group, a clear epidemiological exposure was found in 4/18 cases (22.2%). Male gender and residency in specific districts were observed more in the positive cases (p value = 0.01 and 0.0001, respectively). In regards to symptoms, most of the positive PCR tested HCWs (n=12, 66.7%) remained asymptomatic. Most prevalent initial symptoms were gastrointestinal symptoms (diarrhea, abdominal pain) in six HCWs representing 33.3%. No significant difference was noted in co-morbidities reported by both groups. Conclusion Health care workers tested post-quarantine period were found to be at risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection despite very minimal or no known risks of exposure, where most of them were asymptomatic. This potentially carries risk of nosocomial transmission inside healthcare facilities. Implanting policies for routine post-quarantine screening for HCWs is recommended.

No abstract