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Background: Diabetic foot is a very common condition responsible for a major bulk of surgical admissions and out-patient visits. Lack of awareness of many factors influencing the incidence of this disease complex has led to loss of life, limb and quality of life. The site-specific incidence of initial site and initiating factor has not been studied in diabetic foot.Methods: A study has been done over a period of one and a half years which looked into the distribution of initial site of infection in diabetic foot and associated initiating etiologies. The study was cross sectional. History, general inspection of foot, dermatological, neuropathic and vascular assessments were done, in addition to making careful notes about the site and cause of infection.Results:60.7% of patients were >60 years old, 55.3% were male patients. 63.3% of patients had diabetes for more than 10 years. In 29.3% the initial site of infection was the big toe, 22% in the ball of foot, 18% in the other 4 toes together, 14.7% in the interdigital spaces, 10.7% in the heel and 5.3% in the mid foot. In most of the cases the etiology is multifactorial, trauma in 56%, musculoskeletal deformities in 47.3%, callosities in 41.3%, cracks and fissures in 16.7%, fungal infection in 7.3%, nail infection in 6%, no initiating introduction of infection identified in 10.7%.Conclusions: Awareness of and thus particular stress being place on identification of specific site and cause of infection should help in care of the foot in diabetics.

Background: Thyroid neoplasm includes both benign and malignant tumors arising in the thyroid gland. Although thyroid cancer accounts for less than 1% of all cancers, the challenge to clinicians is to identify the minority of thyroid nodules that harbor malignancy. There are a number of well-established predictors of malignancy in thyroid nodules. More recently a few studies have suggested that higher concentration of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), even within the normal range are associated with subsequent diagnosis of thyroid cancer in patients with thyroid nodules and even higher serum TSH levels have been found associated with advanced stages of thyroid cancer. Methods: A prospective study was conducted on 220 cases without overt thyroid dysfunction attending Department of general surgery, Pushpagiri institute of medical science, Thiruvalla. Results: In our study incidence of malignancy of thyroid carcinoma was highest in patients with serum TSH concentrations, in range of 3.5 mIU/l-5.25 mIU/l, 55 patients out of 220 patients. Individually, incidence of papillary carcinoma (PC) (36/55 patients), follicular carcinoma (FC) (17/55 patients) and Hurthle cell carcinoma (HCC) (2/55 patients) were more in patients with higher TSH. So, from the study it can be clearly state that elevated TSH can be used as an independent predictor of thyroid malignancy. Higher TSH values are associated with papillary thyroid carcinoma.Conclusions: An elevated TSH can be used as an independent predictor of thyroid malignancy, especially for anticipating a probability of papillary carcinoma of thyroid.

Background: Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is a full-thickness wound, skin necrosis or gangrene below the ankle induced by peripheral neuropathy or peripheral arterial disease in patients with diabetes. There are well-accepted classification systems for DFUs, namely Wagner’s scoring system, university of Texas scoring system etc. However, only few are scientifically validated. Diabetic ulcer severity score (DUSS) introduced by Beckert et al consists of easily accessible clinical parameters which categorizes wounds into specific subgroups for comparison of outcomes.Methods: A prospective study was conducted on 250 diabetic ulcer patients, attending the out-patient department (OPD) of surgery, Pushpagiri institute of medical sciences, Tiruvalla.Results: Most common age group affected with diabetic foot was between 51-60 years (mean 58.9±10.2 years). Males accounted for 54% of patients. Most common ulcers were of score of 2 followed by score 3. Overall, 105 (42%) of 250 people had amputations in our study with majority undergoing minor amputation (30%) than the major amputation (12%). None of the patients with scores 0, 1 and 2 had major amputation. Probability of healing among the various scores were-100% for score 0, 97.9% for score 1, 83.4% for score 2, 17.7% for score 3 and 4.8% for score 4. Lower score is strongly associated with primary healing and higher score with amputations.Conclusions: DUSS system is an easy wound based diagnostic tool for anticipating probability of healing or amputation and need for surgery by assessing the four clinical parameters and combining them which is safe and easily reproducible.

Background: This was a report of a movement of the recurrent laryngeal nerve which can be demonstrated during thyroid surgeries which can be used for locating the nerve, or identifying it if already exposed and causing confusion with other nearby structures or when alone too.Methods: The nerve is located by observing for a superior-inferior movement of the recurrent laryngeal nerve transmitted by the loose areolar tissue over it and dissecting over this site to locate the nerve right underneath it. This was by direct observation of the movement which will be there so long as the thyroid is held retracted to the opposite side and is not separated from the thyroid at the tissues that constitute the condensation of pre-tracheal fascia called the Berry’s ligament.Results: The recurrent laryngeal nerve originates from the vagus and loops posteriorly and then upwards around the arch of aorta on the left side and the subclavian artery on the right side. When the thyroid gland is retracted away and thus the nerve put on slight stretch, a superior-inferior to and fro- movement of the nerve can be seen. This movement can be used for identification and dissection of the nerve along its course.Conclusions: A review of literature has been done and it is clear that this movement has not been hitherto identified or published

Background: Pilonidal sinus disease is a chronic infection of the natal cleft commonly affecting young adults. Out of the standard operative techniques, the Karydakis procedure is a relatively simple procedure associated with low rates of wound complications and recurrence. In this study we present a modified version of the Karydakis procedure to treat less extensive disease, which enables better skin closure without cavitation and tension.Methods: Patients with uncomplicated pilonidal sinus who presented to our centre during the period from April 2015 to March 2019 were prospectively enrolled. Patients with recurrent or complex sinus disease were excluded. In those enrolled, our modified Karydakis procedure was performed. In this method, after excision a flap of skin and subcutaneous tissue was raised to one side and sutured across the midline by advancement in layers.Results: 34 patients underwent our modified Karydakis procedure. 91% (31/34) of patients had uncomplicated recovery and could return to work after two weeks. There were minimal post-operative complications, in the form of erythema around the wound (8.8%), wound discharge (5.9%), seroma (5.9%) and infection (2.9%). No patient developed wound dehiscence or flap necrosis. There were excellent cosmetic results and no recurrence at one year post-surgery.Conclusions: Our modification of the Karydakis procedure is a simple and effective surgery for the management of uncomplicated pilonidal sinus disease which achieves good results.