One of the side effects of vaccines used to end the COVID-19 epidemic is non-specifically enlarged axillary lymph nodes. Such lymphadenopathy detected during clinical examination of breast cancer patients may require additional imaging or interventional procedures that should not normally be performed. This study has been designed to estimate the incidence of palpable enlarged axillary lymph node in breast cancer patients who had received COVID-19 vaccination in the past 3 months in the same arm as compared to those without vaccination. Breast cancer patients admitted to M.U. Medical Faculty Breast polyclinic between January 2021 and March 2022 were screened, and clinical staging was performed after thorough clinical examination. Among these patients with suspected enlarged axillary lymph node and those undergoing sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), they were divided into two groups as vaccinated and unvaccinated. Age, menopausal status, tumor size, tumor location, surgery, pathology results, hormonal receptor status, and SLNB results were statistically compared with groups. There was no significant difference between groups in terms of age, menopause, tumor size, tumor location, surgery, pathological results, and hormone receptor status. The SLNB being reported as reactive only was 89.1% in the vaccinated group and 73.2% in the non-vaccinated group which was statistically significant different. Reactive lymph nodes were commonly found with an excess of 16% in patients who had received COVID-19 vaccination in the past 3 months. This required caution and additional examination of the axillary lymph nodes in this period.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS COV2) had rapidly spread and caused a global pandemic worldwide. The most common symptoms in adults are respiratory with dry cough, dyspnea, and fever. Occasionally, extra-respiratory presentations may be seen such as gastrointestinal involvement with diarrhea, vomiting or abdominal pain. Acute intestinal intussusception is the most common cause of bowel obstruction in infants (2-4 months of age) but rarely could it be encountered in adult. It is a very rare gastro-intestinal manifestation of COVID-19 with an invagination of a segment of the bowel within a more distal one. The part that prolapses into the other is called the intussusceptum, and the part that receives it is called the intussuscipiens. Most of COVID-19 cases of AII are reported in the pediatric population between 4 and 10 months. Only a single case of small bowel obstruction secondary to ileo-colic intussusception in a COVID-19 infection adult was published on April 2021. We present here a challenging case of intussusception secondary to COVID-19 infection in an adult in the absence of respiratory symptoms. Our study presents the first case in Africa of AII in adult patients due to COVID-19.

Blood levels of amylase and lipase are the result of a balance between production and clearance of these enzymes. Normal blood level of amylase and lipase is 0-90 U/L and 0-70 U/L, respectively. Rise in blood levels of lipase and amylase was observed in pancreatic injury. This is an observational, cross-sectional study involving 279 patients [176 COVID-positive and 103 COVID-negative] admitted at a tertiary care hospital in Mumbai during COVID pandemic. The mean age was 45 years with SD of 15 years with men:women ratio of 2.7:1. Serum lipase and amylase were raised in 101 cases (57.4%) and 57 patients (32.4%), respectively. Out of the 101 patients with raised lipase levels, 44 (25%) patients showed a severe rise (> 3 times the normal), and out of 57 patients with raised amylase levels, 12 patients (6.8%) showed a severe rise (> 3 times the normal). From this study, it can be concluded that the prevalence of hyperamylasemia was 32.4% and that of hyperlipasemia was 57.4% in the involved study population with COVID-positive status.

This meta-analysis aims to identify urinary tract infections (UTIs) in patients with different levels of age groups. For both diagnosis and treatment of UTIs, antibiotics have been widely used in nursing home settings. We also aimed to evaluate the duration of catheterization in UTI patients to reduce catheter-associated complications. We conducted a systematic review that was performed following the "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses" (PRISMA) guidelines and recommendations from Cochrane Collaboration. We performed a comprehensive search for published literature in PubMed, ScienceDirect, Taylor & Francis Online, Springer, and Wiley Online databases from 2010 to June 25, 2021. We performed two meta-analysis: the first meta-analysis (meta-analysis I) was performed on data obtained from included studies that compared patients with UTIs (experimental group) and without UTIs (control group); the second meta-analysis (meta-analysis II) was performed to assess the appropriate use of a catheter in UTI patients. All statistical analyses were conducted using the Review Manager 5.4 tool. A total of 15 research articles were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. Of these, results showed the identification of critical patients with UTIs and without UTIs from nursing resident homes (risk ratio [RR] = 0.80 95% confidence interval CI = 0.69-0.93  < 0.0001). Risk ratio results with random effects (RE) were obtained as RR = 0.69 95% CI = 0.26-1.83,  = 0.45, along with heterogeneity (96%) values. No appropriate prescription of antibiotics in UTIs is practiced among nursing home residents. In addition, pooled results between two groups (short-duration vs. long-duration catheterization) showed RR 0.66 95% CI 0.46-0.93  = 0.02,  = 56, that reduced complications associated with CAUTIs. This systematic review and meta-analysis suggested an appropriate use of agents and catheter insertion for a short duration at nursing homes.

Spontaneous surgical acute and chronic intracranial haemorrhage in patients with SARS-Cov-2 infection is a theoretical possibility. We report two cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection that was associated with spontaneous surgical acute and chronic intracranial haemorrhage. The two patients had successful surgical intervention. Surgical haemorrhages should be considered in patients with SARS-COV-2 infection especially if there is an associated altered sensorium.

A common site of chemoport implantation is the anterior chest wall. However, it is difficult to needle chemoport and to maintain needles in severely obese patients. Because the skin is thick, it is difficult to find the port and the needle easily comes off. We describe a different safe and easy to replicate method of chemoport placement in a severely obese patient. We placed the chemopot directly above the sternum. It is particularly more useful for very obese patients. This technique is safe and an easy to replicate method of chemoport placement.

The aim of this study was to compare quilting suture with axillary drain versus conventional sutures with axillary and pectoral drain on the formation of seroma after modified radical mastectomy with axillary lymph node dissection. The study was undertaken among 90 female patients with breast cancer who were candidates for modified radical mastectomy with axillary clearance. The intervention group ( = 43) with quilting and axillary drain placement and the control group ( = 33) without quilting with axillary and pectoral drain placement. All the patients were followed up for complications pertaining to this procedure. There were no significant differences between the two groups with regard to demographic characteristics, comorbidities, pre-operative chemotherapy, post-operative pathological findings, lymph node involvement or clinical staging. The incidence of seroma formation on follow-up was significantly lower in the intervention group than that in the control group (23% versus 58%;  < 0.05) whereas there was no significant difference with respect to flap necrosis, superficial skin necrosis and wound gaping between the two groups. Furthermore, it took a shorter duration for seroma to resolve in the intervention group (4 days versus 9 days;  < 0.001) with a smaller duration of hospital stay (4 days versus 9 days;  < 0.001). The use of quilting sutures for flap fixation in order to obliterate dead space post-modified radical mastectomy with placement of axillary drain significantly reduced seroma formation along with shorter duration of wound drainage and a smaller hospital stay with only slightly increased operative time. Therefore, we recommend quilting of flap as a routine step after mastectomy.

Patients with previous abdominal surgery are at an increased risk of peritoneal adhesions, which may complicate transperitoneal surgery. The objective of this article is to report single centre experience with transperitoneal laparoscopic and robotic partial nephrectomy for renal cancer in patients with previous abdominal surgery. We evaluated data from 128 patients who underwent laparoscopic or robotic partial nephrectomy from January 2010 to May 2020. Patients were divided into three groups according to the localization of main previous surgery: in the upper contralateral abdominal quadrant, in the upper ipsilateral abdominal quadrant or in the middle line, in lower abdominal quadrants. Each group was divided into two subgroups (laparoscopic/robotic partial nephrectomy). We separately analysed data of indocyanine green-enhanced robotic partial nephrectomy. Our study did not find significant difference in the rate of intraoperative or postoperative complications between any of the groups. The type of partial nephrectomy (robotic or laparoscopic) affected the surgery time, blood loss, and length of stay in hospital, but did not significantly influence the frequency of complications. Partial nephrectomy in group of patients with prior renal surgery led to a higher rate of intraoperative low-grade complications. We did not observe more favourable results for indocyanine green-enhanced robotic partial nephrectomy. The location of previous abdominal surgery does not influence the rate of intraoperative or postoperative complications. The type of partial nephrectomy (robotic or laparoscopic) does not affect the frequency of complications.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was declared as pandemic by World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020. The outbreak has caused 5,232,562 deaths worldwide until December 3rd, 2021. Though primarily affecting the respiratory system, involvement of other organ systems have been reported in severe disease. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) has been recognized as an important complication. Previous studies have reported the prevalence of VTE in intensive care unit (ICU) patients between 7 and 85% and in non-ICU patients between 0 and 19%. COVID-19 patients that are at high risk for VTE are also at increased risk for bleeding. In such cases, anticoagulation may potentially be harmful. Thereby, it is important to understand the risk factors for VTE predisposition in the COVID-19 patients, timing of VTE, and the rate of occurrence of VTE in hospitalized patients post-discharge. Comparison of the rate of occurrence of VTE in COVID-19 patients with the non-COVID-19 patients with similar disease severity is required to truly interpret the reportedly high rates of VTE in COVID-19 patients. Several pathophysiological mechanisms have been reported for the development of VTE in COVID-19. Autopsy-based studies have contributed to the existing knowledge. d-dimer, presently, seems to be the most suitable investigation for risk-identification of VTE supported by Doppler studies and overall clinical context. Further, prospective studies and clinical trials are essentially required to fill the gaps in evidence for occurrence, risk prediction and management of VTE in COVID-19 patients.

Lung transplantation is gaining widespread acceptance as the preferred therapeutic option for selected cases of end-stage lung disease in India. The indications of lung transplantation are increasing, with better post-operative survival, including the COVID affected lung, if we choose our patients well. The national acceptance of expanded criteria in lung donation, streamlining of the process of lung transplantation by governmental, and non-governmental organizations and significant increase in the number of organ donations in India have strengthened the lung transplantation program within the country. Through this article, we describe a brief history, the process, and our experience of lung transplantation since we started our program in 2017 until date.

Laparoscopic common bile duct exploration (LCBDE) remains underutilized in the management of common bile duct (CBD) stones. The exact cause of this under-utilization remains unclear; however, identified barriers to LCBDE implementation include lack of training and unavailability of dedicated instruments. LCBDE is an attractive alternative for stone retrieval in patients with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass given the anatomical difficulty in endoscopic retrograde cholangiopaneatography (ERCP). Direct visualization through choledochoscopy is the method of choice for LCBDE. However, dedicated choledoscopes are expensive and not widely available, which may lead surgeons to seek for alternatives at their particular environment. With the COVID-19 pandemic, disposable bronchoscopes have become widely accessible at our institution, raising the possibility of using one for direct vision of the biliary tract. We present the case of a 61-year-old male with past medical history of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, who presented to the emergency department with a CBD stone. Successful LCBDE was achieved with the aid of a disposable bronchoscope for direct visualization of the biliary tract.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a modality utilized for partially or completely supporting the cardiac and/or pulmonary function. There are multiple vascular access techniques depending upon the necessity and the mode of ECMO used. ECMO has evolved over the years as an integral part of the cardiac care discipline. Historically, this lifesaving modality began as an extension of cardiopulmonary bypass and was associated with adverse outcomes. Currently, ECMO has evolved as an accepted and viable solution to patients with severe cardiac/respiratory/cardiorespiratory failure that is refractory to conservative management. The outcomes of patients on ECMO are dependent on multiple factors originating from demographic and pathophysiological status of patients as well as the control of homeostasis during ECMO within the acceptable range. Various studies have been published by many practitioners over past decades since the dawn of ECMO era. A brief review of such experience is summated, and a conclusion is derived about the clinical course of the patients on ECMO, while adding the author's experience about the same in a tertiary care large-volume center.

Approximately 6-9% of trainees will have performance issues of variable degrees with 3-5% of trainees struggling to complete their training and requiring additional targeted time or an extension of training. Some even leave the profession. The environment is complex, often chaotic and overstretched, and, now, made more difficult due to the impact of COVID-19 on medical training. Addressing learning and implementing new behaviours is a challenge and important, as there are still 'never events', and medical errors sadly can include wilful neglect and assault. Such traumatic experiences can be a huge drain of resources for faculty, who often feel underprepared to deal with such occurrences. Failure to address them can lead to bitterness and loss of the medical workforce, rarely suicide, huge remedial costs, and legal challenges to educational institutions and employers. The purpose of this paper is to gain an understanding of why trainees struggle and/or fail and to be able to analyse the causes of poor performance; to know how to pick up these issues early and raise them; and to ultimately deal effectively with performance problems to get a good outcome for the trainees, patients, and institutions.

This is a pilot study to assess the utility of applying 5G-assisted remote guidance in laparoscopic simulation training. A single trainee of a junior surgeon was recruited to complete three steps of tasks including basic task 1, basic task 2, and model task, and the performance was recorded and evaluated. The operator completed each task three times. Except for basic task 1, all tasks were remotely guided by a more experienced surgeon using 5G technology. Tasks completion time and a 30-point objective structured assessment of technical skills (OSATS) score were utilized to assess the results of simulation training. All remote guidance processes were successfully completed without significant network latency. Through basic task 1, the operator quickly became familiar with the trained laparoscopic instruments. For basic task 2, OSATS scores increased from 16 to 24 points, and completion time decreased from 1500 to 986 s after training under 5G-assisted remote guidance. For model tasks, OSATS scores increased from 15 to 26 points, and completion time decreased from 1734 to 1142 s. This is a novel mode of laparoscopic simulation training to increase the convenience of training. Perhaps in the near future, surgeons can simulate difficult operations at home or in the office, and accurately grasp the possible situations that may occur in actual operations in advance.

Leslie Harold Blumgart was the surgeon behind making Hepatopancreaticobiliary surgery a speciality and his recent demise will always leave a void in that field. He was the person who classified anatomical variations in the biliary tract and devised a special anastomotic technique to decrease the rate of postoperative pancreatic duct fistula after Whipple's pancreaticoduodenectomy. His contribution in managing hepatobiliary oncology cases with chemotherapy and radiotherapy was also significant. No wonder, he was designated as the "living legend" by the International Hepatopancreaticobiliary Association.

 Management of tracheal complications due to endotracheal intubation in patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is an important concern. This study aimed to present the  results of patients who had undergone tracheal resection and reconstruction due to COVID-19-related complex post-intubation tracheal stenosis (PITS). We evaluated 15 patients who underwent tracheal resection and reconstruction due to complex PITS between March 2020 and April 2021 in a single center. Seven patients (46.6%) who underwent endotracheal intubation due to the COVID-19 constituted the COVID-19 group, and the remaining 8 patients (53.4%) constituted the non-COVID-19 group. We analyzed the patients' presenting symptoms, time to onset of symptoms, radiological and bronchoscopic features of stenosis, bronchoscopic intervention history, length of the resected tracheal segment, postoperative complications, length of hospital stay, and duration of follow-up. Six of the patients (40%) were female, and 9 (60%) were male. Mean age was 43.3 ± 20.5. We found no statistically significant difference between the COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 PITS groups in terms of presenting symptoms, time to onset of symptoms, stenosis location, stenosis severity, length of the stenotic segment, number of bronchoscopic dilatation sessions, dilatation time intervals, length of the resected tracheal segment, postoperative complications, and length of postoperative hospital stay. Endotracheal intubation duration was longer in the COVID-19 group than non-COVID-19 group (mean ± SD: 21.0 ± 4.04, 12.0 ± 1.15 days, respectively). Tracheal resection and reconstruction can be performed safely and successfully in COVID-19 patients with complex PITS. Comprehensive preoperative examination, appropriate selection of surgery technique, and close postoperative follow-up have favorable results.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is primarily considered to be a respiratory ailment. Hitherto, abdominal symptoms have been reported with variable frequency in acute COVID-19. The purpose of this study was to estimate the frequency of abdominal symptoms at presentation among patients hospitalised with COVID-19 infection, and to determine their association with disease severity. This was a single-centre cross-sectional observational study conducted at a COVID-19 tertiary care hospital (CTRI/2021/10/037195, registered on 08/10/2021). Consecutive patients hospitalised with acute COVID-19 illness during the study period were included in the study. Their demographic information, abdominal symptoms, comorbidities and category of COVID-19 illness were elicited. All patients had serum inflammatory markers tested on the day of hospitalisation. Among the 685 participants, 214 patients had mild-to-moderate category illness whereas the rest 471 had severe COVID-19 illness. Abdominal complaints were present among 132/685 (18.3%) patients with distension of abdomen (8.03%) being the most common symptom, followed by vomiting (6.72%) and abdominal pain (3.94%). At admission to the hospital, abdominal complaints were commoner among patients with severe disease than in those with mild-to-moderate disease (101/471 vs. 31/214; =0.029). Abdominal symptoms were associated with a higher neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (=0.029). The mortality among COVID-19 patients with abdominal symptoms was higher (9.09 vs. 3.25%; = 0.007). This study demonstrates the spectrum of abdominal symptoms that can be a part of acute COVID-19 at hospitalisation and also highlights their prognostic potential in acute COVID-19 infection.

Mucormycosis is a fungal infection involving rhinocerebral, pulmonary, cutaneous, gastrointestinal and disseminated forms with high morbidity and mortality with rare involvement of the urinary bladder. Diagnosis is made by examining under a microscope, identifying broad, nonseptate, irregular and ribbon-shaped hyphae. Timely diagnosis and starting antifungal drugs are key to successful treatment.

Stomach cancer is a common public health problem in South East Asia including Bhutan. Chronic infection with is regarded as the principal cause of stomach cancer. Herein, we present the incidence of stomach cancer in Bhutan for eight years (from 2014 to 2021). We also discuss the steps taken for the prevention and early detection of stomach cancer.