A 15-year-old girl developed symptoms suggestive of malignant hyperthermia during a laparoscopic appendicectomy for acute appendicitis. The triad of masseter spasm, hypercarbia and hyperthermia within 30 minutes of exposure to triggering factors was present and was treated successfully with dantrolene. She is among a handful of cases known locally. The problems faced in the post-acute phase inc...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Those who have had an appendicectomy have a reduced risk of developing ulcerative colitis. However, the effect of appendicectomy on disease activity in patients with ulcerative colitis has not been established. METHODS We used the Danish National Patient Registry to identify all incident cases of ulcerative colitis in Denmark during the period 1981 to 1999. Of these, 202 h...

Figure 2 Clinical photograph demonstrating the long distal drain still protruding after closure of the arthrotomy (Fig 1). Close the arthrotomy from proximal to distal, leaving the distal end protruding (Fig 2). As you reach the end of the wound where the drain exits the arthrotomy, withdraw the drain to length. As the drain withdraws easily, you can be sure that it has not been sutured into th...

We present a rare case of Amyand's hernia that was surgically managed using an open repair of hernia combined with laparoscopic appendicectomy. A 68-year-old man presented with an irreducible recurrent right-sided inguinal hernia and abdominal pain. This gentleman had undergone three previous inguinal hernia repairs on the right, and one on the left using the open mesh technique. Ultrasound sug...

BACKGROUND Though minimally invasive techniques now are routine world over, there is need to develop facilities for training surgeons. Laparoscopy performed on anesthetized animals is an established model but is costly and is not easily available. We report on human cadaver as a training modality for surgeons participating in a laparoscopic training course. METHODS Unembalmed cadavers were us...