This is the first study to investigate the use of exogenous nutritional supplements within the British Military and has identified their widespread use during operational deployment. The use of anabolic steroids is particularly worrying, given both their illegality and their well-recognised and deleterious health effects. There is a need for greater awareness and education regarding potential benefits and dangers of supplement use in order to maximise any potential benefits and minimise clinical risk.

Traditionally, the operating theatre is a suboptimal educational setting for medical students. It is an unfamiliar learning environment for those new to clinical medicine, with its own rituals, protocols and etiquette. Learning objectives are not defined clearly and many students perceive the time spent in the operating department as being of little or no educational benefit. Furthermore, most students receive very little or no formal induction into the theatre environment and this has a negative impact on learning behaviours and, indeed, patient safety.

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We describe a case of postoperative galactorrhea following the use of a pedicled pectoralis major myocutaneous flap for reconstruction of a pharyngolaryngeal defect in a woman with squamous cell carcinoma. We believe this to be unique in the literature, and an important complication to be reported, due to the similarities in appearance of galactorrhoea and postoperative aerodigestive tract/ cutaneous fistula.

There are numerous reports of inadvertent injury to patients as a result of diathermy. This potential risk also applies to the surgical team. We report a case of a full thickness diathermy burn to the surgeon, occurring due to faulty diathermy forceps. Such incidents should be reported to minimize risk of injury.

No abstract