Canadian Journal of Surgery articles from October 2008

Canadian Journal of Surgery archives from October 2008

Improving waiting times for surgery/L'amelioration des temps d'attente en chirurgie.(Editorial)
October 1, 2008... I would presume that everyone who provides surgical care in Canada is aware of the problems posed by restricted resources for surgical services. I have written previous editorials on the subject detailing the problems and outlining some of the...

Challenges and solutions to expanded satellite clerkship rotations.(Quill on Scalpel/Plume et scalpel)
October 1, 2008... A certain type of medical student is drawn to doing an elective at a satellite campus. This student is an independent learner, determined and excited by the opportunity for increased hands-on exposure and drawn to autonomous problem-solving. In...

The epidemiology of surgically treated acute subdural and epidural hematomas in patients with head injuries: a population-based study.(Original Article/Article original)(Clinical report)
October 1, 2008... Background: The purpose of this paper is to review the population-based epidemiology of surgically treated post-traumatic epidural hematomas (EDHs) and/or subdural hematomas (SDHs) among patients who presented to the single neurosurgical centre...

Surgical outcomes in women with ovarian cancer.(Original Article/Article original)(Clinical report)
October 1, 2008... Objective: We sought to assess whether the specialty of the surgeon or the hospital involved in the initial management of women with ovarian cancer determined the likelihood of unnecessary repeated abdominal surgery and long-term patient...

Laparoscopic repair of paraesophageal hernias: a Canadian experience.(Original Article/Article original)(Clinical report)
October 1, 2008... Background: The surgical approach to paraesophageal hernias (PEH) has changed with the advent of laparoscopic techniques. Variation in both perioperative outcomes and hernia recurrence rates are reported in the literature. We sought to evaluate...

Functional outcome after proximal humeral fractures treated with hemiarthroplasty.(Original Article/Article original)(Clinical report)
October 1, 2008... Objective: To evaluate functional outcome after hemiarthroplasty for displaced proximal humeral fractures and to review whether prosthesis type, intraoperative technique or previous ipsilateral shoulder surgery could affect the outcome....

Functional outcome and persistent disability after isolated fracture of the femur.(Original Article/Article original)(Clinical report)
October 1, 2008... Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the functional outcome and causes of persistent disability in patients with isolated femoral shaft fractures treated at an academic level-1 trauma centre. Methods: We prospectively enrolled 40...

Choosing a career in surgery: factors that influence Canadian medical students' interest in pursuing a surgical career.(Original Article/Article original)
October 1, 2008... Background: Interest in both general surgery and surgical subspecialties has been declining among Canadian medical students. Studies have shown that a student's desire to practise surgery is largely determined before entry into medical school....

Arthroscopically assisted percutaneous osteosynthesis of lateral tibial plateau fractures.(Original Article/Article original)(Clinical report)
October 1, 2008... Background: The aim of our study was to evaluate the results of lateral tibial plateau fractures treated with arthroscopically assisted percutaneous osteosynthesis (AAPO). Methods: Twenty-one patients (14 men and 7 women) with a mean age of 41...

Chronic pain after Lichtenstein and preperitoneal (posterior) hernia repair.(Original Article/Article original)(Clinical report)
October 1, 2008... Background: Hernia repair is one of the most common surgical procedures, and some patients suffer from chronic pain after hernia surgery. The aim of the present study was to evaluate chronic postherniorrhaphy pain in men who underwent...

Surgery in Africa monthly reviews: introduction.(International Surgery/La chirurgie a l'etranger)
October 1, 2008... Surgery in Africa Monthly Reviews is a joint educational initiative of the Office of International Surgery, University of Toronto, and the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA). Its objectives are to provide free,...

The spatial epidemiology of trauma: the potential of geographic information science to organize data and reveal patterns of injury and services.
October 1, 2008... Despite important advances in the prevention and treatment of trauma, preventable injuries continue to impact the lives of millions of people. Motor vehicle collisions and violence claim close to 3 million lives each year worldwide. Public...

Surgical images: musculoskeletal Hook nail in a pediatric patient.(Continuing Medical Education/Formation medicale continue)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... A 7-year-old girl presented 3 years after a large tip amputation, which had been treated with an attempt at closure. The eventual outcome was a painful finger with a rounded or "hook" nail deformity (Fig. 1). During this closure, the treating...

Radiology for the surgeon Musculoskeletal case 42.(Continuing Medical Education/Formation medicale continue)(Case study)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... Presentation A 50-year-old man presented with a slowly enlarging, painless lump in his left groin, which he had first noticed several months earlier. One of the patient's prior radiographs is provided in Figure 1. The radiographs of his...

Chondrosarcoma arising from an osteochondroma in a patient with hereditary multiple exostoses (osteochondromatosis).(Diagnosis)(Clinical report)
October 1, 2008... The radiograph of the knee (Fig. 1) shows the typical appearances of hereditary multiple exostoses: there is undertubulation of the distal femur (called the "Erlenmeyer flask" deformity), and multiple osteochondromas are shown arising from the...

The secondary abdominal compartment syndrome: not just another post-traumatic complication.(Surgical Biology for the Clinician/Biologie chirurgicale pour le clinicien)(Clinical report)
October 1, 2008... The secondary abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) is defined as the presence of organ dysfunction with concurrent intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) in a scenario lacking primary intraperitoneal injury or intervention. This state appears to be...

Canadian Association of General Surgeons and American College of Surgeons Evidence-Based Reviews in Surgery. 26. Watchful waiting versus repair of inguinal hernia in minimally symptomatic men.(Evidence-Based Surgery/Chirurgie factuelle)
October 1, 2008... CAGS Evidence Based Reviews in Surgery The term "evidence-based medicine" was first coined by Sackett and colleagues as "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of...

Foreign-body aspiration in an adult.(Correspondence/Correspondance)
October 1, 2008... I have read the manuscript "Foreign-body aspiration in an adult" by Qureshi and colleagues, (1) and I congratulate the authors on their successful treatment of such a rare case. Yet, I want to remark on some aspects of the manuscript. In...

Codes of professionalism and ethics.(Correspondence/Correspondance)
October 1, 2008... I was interested to read the "Code of professionalism" (1) in the April issue of the journal. I see no mention of continuity of care, itinerant surgery or itinerant patients. As such, I think the document is inadequate. I am not sure why the...

Pericardial rupture with cardiac herniation.(Case Note/Note de cas)(Case study)
October 1, 2008... Blunt traumatic rupture of the pericardium (BTRP) is usually discovered at autopsy. (1) The principal danger associated with this entity is cardiac herniation. Despite the high mortality, patients may survive BTRP, which should always be...

Medial wear of the polyethylene component associated with heterotopic ossification after reverse shoulder arthroplasty.(Case Note/Note de cas)(Case study)
October 1, 2008... Medial wear on the polyethylene component after reverse shoulder arthroplasty (RSA) has been attributed to impingement of the humeral cup on the lateral border of the scapula. We present a case that illustrates that the presence of early...

Periosteal chondroma of the sacrum.(Case Note/Note de cas)(Case study)
October 1, 2008... Periosteal chondroma in the spine is rare and has not been reported in the sacrum until now. We report a case of periosteal chondroma that was unusual owing to its large size and location in the sacrum. Case report A 35-year-old man...

Transfemoral removal of a knotted Swan--Ganz catheter.(Case Note/Note de cas)(Case study)
October 1, 2008... Intravascular knotting of Swan--Ganz catheters (SGCs) is a rare complication, with fewer than 100 reports in the literature. Knotted SGCs usually require special surgical or interventional radiologic techniques for safe removal. (1) We...

Abdominal actinomycosis mimicking acute appendicitis.(Case Note/Note de cas)(Case study)
October 1, 2008... The most common etiologic organism associated clinically with actinomycosis is Actinomyces israelii. Actinomyces species exist in the normal flora of the gastrointestinal system and female genitourinary tracts. Abdominal actinomycosis accounts...

Management of intrathoracic goitre.(Case Note/Note de cas)(Case study)
October 1, 2008... The currently accepted definition of an intrathoracic goitre is a thyroid gland with more than 50% of its mass located below the thoracic inlet. (1,2) This term can be further classified as an "incomplete" or a "complete" intrathoracic goitre....

Complication of central venous cannulation.(Case Note/Note de cas)(Case study)
October 1, 2008... Complications during central venous cannulation are quite common, and various attempts have been made to prevent them. We report a case of innominate artery puncture that occurred during an attempt to cannulate the right internal jugular vein...

Interposition of small bowel as replacement for the descending colon.(Case Note/Note de cas)(Case study)
October 1, 2008... We report an unusual case of reconstruction of the food passage with the interposition of small bowel after iatrogenic loss of the descending colon. After interposition with the use of 2 small-bowel segments--proximal jejunum and terminal...