Fine structure in the A – X system of aluminium monochloride molecule, determination of dissociation energy by predissociation

The rotational structure of the A — X system of aluminium monochloride molecule has been photographed in the third order of a 10.6 meter concave grating spectrograph with 0.22 Å/mm dispersion in order to obtain precise molecular constants. The rotational predissociation observed in the bands involving V = 9 and 10 vibrational levels of the excited state has been used to determine the precise value of the dissociation energy which comes out to be 5.26 ± 0.01 eV. The nature of the predissociating state has also been discussed

Scrotal abscess with a rare cause

A 4-year-old boy presented with a short history of right-sided acute scrotal pain and swelling. At exploration, pus was found in the hemiscrotum but no local cause could be found. Further exploration showed the pus coming through a patent processus vaginalis from a collection in the right iliac fossa secondary to acute appendicitis

A rare cause of right iliac fossa pain

A child with torsion of appendix epiploicae presenting as acute right iliac fossa pain in abdomen is reported

Scrotal abscess with a rare cause

A 4-year-old boy presented with a short history of right-sided acute scrotal pain and swelling. At exploration, pus was found in the hemiscrotum but no local cause could be found. Further exploration showed the pus coming through a patent processus vaginalis from a collection in the right iliac fossa secondary to acute appendicitis

Risk of surgical site infection in paediatric herniotomies without any prophylactic antibiotics: A preliminary experience

Background: Different studies underline the use of pre-operative antibiotic prophylaxis in clean surgeries like herniotomy and inguinal orchiopexy. But, the meta-analyses do not recommend nor discard the use of prophylactic pre-operative antibiotics. The scarcity of controlled clinical trials in paediatric population further vitiates the matter. This study assessed the difference in the rate of early post-operative wound infection cases in children who received single dose of pre-operative antibiotics and children who did not receive antibiotics after inguinal herniotomy and orchiopexy. Materials and Methods: This randomised prospective study was conducted in Paediatric Surgery department of PGIMER Chandigarh. Out of 251 patients, 112 patients were randomised to the case group and 139 were ascribed to the control group. The patients in control group were given a standard regimen of single dose of intravenous antibiotic at the time of induction followed by 3-4 days of oral antibiotic. Case group patients underwent the surgical procedure in similar manner with no antibiotic either at the time of induction or post-operatively. Results: The incidence of surgical site infection in case group was 3.73 % and that in control group was 2.22%. The observed difference in the incidence of surgical site infection was statistically insignificant (P value = 0.7027). The overall infection rate in case and control group was 2.89%. Conclusions: Our preliminary experience suggests that there is no statistically significant difference in the proportion of early post-operative wound infection between the patients who received single dose of pre-operative antibiotics and the patients who received no antibiotics after inguinal herniotomy and orchiopexy. The risk of surgical site infection in paediatric heriotomies does not increase even if the child′s weight is less than his/her expected weight for age

Does all small bowel intussusception need exploration?

Small bowel intussusception (SBI) in infants and children are ususally associated with a lead point. With increased use of radiological investigations, more idiopathic SBIs are identified. As reduction by hydrostatic or air enema are less successful in these cases, most of them require surgical exploration in children. However, now many cases of SBI have been found to reduce spontaneously. We report two cases of SBI with spontaneous reduction and review the literature for the management guidelines

Single-stage transanal endorectal pull-through for Hirschsprung's disease: A retrospective study of surgico-pathological correlations and technical considerations

Background: Transanal endorectal pull-through (TEPT) is a well-established operation for the management of rectosigmoid and short-segment Hirschsprung's disease (HD). A well-performed contrast enema (CE) is an essential road map for the surgeon when attempting the TEPT. We looked at the surgicopathological–radiological correlations and technical considerations of this procedure and discussed our experience over a decade. TEPT essentially relies on radiological mapping of the disease correlating with intraoperative and pathological findings. Some investigators opine that the radiological correlation of the transition zone (rTZ) with the pathological transition zone (pTZ) is accurate whereas others disagree. We review our experience in managing HD patients with TEPT, in terms of pre-operative workup and operative and pathological considerations. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was done in a single unit, from January 2010 to January 2020. Forty-seven patients who met the inclusion criteria such as short-segment HD and uncomplicated HD underwent CE before surgery. The patients included in the review underwent a primary TEPT. For each patient, we identified the radiological transition zone (rTZ) on the contrast enema, the gross transition zone (gTZ) on intraoperatively visual examination, the frozen section transition zone (fTZ) on intraoperative analysis of the frozen section specimens (fTZ), and the pathological transition zone (pTZ) on permanent paraffin blocks of the specimens. We determined the strength of correlation of the rTZ, the gTZ and the fTZ with reference to the pTZ. Results: Forty-seven patients underwent single-stage transanal pull-through. There were 40 males. There were 8 neonates, 20 infants and 19 children (>12 months of age). The mean age at diagnosis was 8.7 days (3–20 days) for the neonates, 5.11 months (2–12 months) for the infants and 4.3 years (1.5–9 years) for children. In our study, 85% correlation was noted between the rTZ and the pTZ (τb = 0.362, P = 0.006). There was an excellent correlation between the intraoperative gTZ, fTZ and the pTZ in all patients except one (97.8%, τb = 0.942, P < 0.001). Conclusions: The TEPT is a feasible option to manage carefully selected patients with rectosigmoid HD. The presence of robust support from pathology and a properly carried out CE are essential parameters to be considered before successfully undertaking these operations. The functional outcomes of TEPT are comparable with other procedures for HD with the added advantage of it being a scar-less and a stoma-less approach

Rare case of pediatric cecal volvulus

An 11-year-old female child presented with abdominal pain, vomiting and constipation. An exploratory laparotomy revealed a cecal volvulus due to a congenital band and malfixation of the cecum. This was treated by excision of the band, derotation and decompression of cecum though an appendiceal stump suction