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Background: Cosmetic surgery (CS) is a rapidly growing subspecialty in Nigeria. Nurses are indispensable part of successful cosmetic surgery practice and thus plays important role in promoting the practice. Objective: To evaluate the level of awareness, attitude and practice of CS among nurses in selected secondary and tertiary hospitals in Ebonyi state, southeast Nigeria. Methods: A cross sectional survey was done among randomly selected nurses in the tertiary and secondary health facilities in Abakaliki between 1st September, and 30th November 2019. Data obtained was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 20 Results: The mean age of the respondents and year of practice were 36.80 ± 9.46 years and 11.35 (95%CI 10.59 - 12.12) respectively. The majority (96.3%) of the respondents were aware of CS and the main source of information was from lectures received while in the nursing school. Breast augmentation and breast reduction were the commonest types of CS known. Only 17% of the respondents correctly identified that CS should be done by the aesthetic/cosmetic surgeon. Nurses in the teaching hospital had a higher propensity of recommending cosmetic surgery to a client than nurses in the secondary healthcare institutions (OR = 2.07 95% CI 1.255-3.45). Only about a quarter of the respondents will accept CS even when offered free to them Conclusion: Our study shows a good awareness of cosmetic surgery among the respondents. Their attitude towards the CS was poor. There is need to improve attitude to CS among nurses as this can assist in improving societal acceptance of CS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the current status and challenges of subspecialty eye care service delivery in Nigeria Study Design: Cross sectional descriptive study Setting: Ophthalmological society of Nigeria (OSN) conference Subjects or participants: Nigerian Ophthalmologists participating in the annual OSN conference. Interventions: Data of current status of eye care services and challenges of subspecialty practice were collected using a pretested self-administered questionnaire. Chi-square test was used to determine associations at a P-value of 0.05 Results: There were a total of 136 respondents; 60 males and 76 females. Highest age range of respondents was 41-50years. About 44.1% had undergone some form of subspecialty training. The commonest area of specialization was Glaucoma (13.2%) while the least area was Neuro-ophthalmology (1.5%). There were more subspecialists in the western region of the country. The major constraint for undergoing subspecialty fellowship was lack of funds. The major barrier to setting up subspecialty practice on completion of training was Lack of equipment for subspecialty practice. Majority of the present subspecialists got international sponsorship for their subspecialty training while those without subspecialty training cited cost as a major impediment to training. Conclusion: Subspecialty training and implementation is still developing in Nigeria. A major intervention has been put in place by CEHC, ICO and Fred Hollows foundation training some number of ophthalmologists. Subspecialty [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: To determine the effect of postural changes on intraocular pressure (IOP) among newly diagnosed patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG)., Patients and Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational study of 55 consecutive newly diagnosed patients with POAG attending Glaucoma clinics at a Federal Teaching Hospital in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state, from July to September 2017. Patients IOPs were measured in the sitting position, supine without a pillow, and supine with pillow positions using Perkin's handheld applanation tonometer. All data were analyzed with SPSS version 20.0., Results: A total of 55 subjects were recruited comprising 30 (54.5%) males and 25 (45.5%) females, with a mean age of 50.13 ± 9.97 years and an age range of 30-79 years. The mean intraocular pressure was 27.54 ± 3.98 mmHg in the sitting position, 30.15 ± 4.41 mmHg in the supine with pillow position, and 35.22 ± 4.61 mmHg in the supine without pillow position. The mean difference of mean IOP of sitting compared to supine without the pillow was 7.68 ± 2.08 mmHg (P-value < 0.001, 95% CI: 7.12-8.24); sitting compared to supine with the pillow was 2.61 ± 1.49 mmHg (P-value < 0.001, 95% CI: 3.01-2.21), whereas supine without the pillow compared to supine with the pillow was 5.07 ± 2.24 mmHg (P-value 0.001, 95% CI: 4.47-5.68)., Conclusion: IOP was lowest in the sitting position and highest in the supine without pillow position. There was a statistically significant reduction in IOP on the assumption of supine with pillow position compared to supine without pillow position. The use of thick pillows in supine positions (such as during sleep or relaxations) rather than lying supine without pillows may reduce IOP spikes in POAG patients. This may have a positive effect as regards treatment and progression of glaucoma., Competing Interests: None