Surgical audit is a systematic, critical analysis of the quality of surgical care that is reviewed by peers against explicit criteria or recognized standards. It is used to improve surgical practice with the ultimate goal of improving patient care. As the pattern of surgical care is different in the developing world, we analyzed mortalities in a referral medical institute of India to suggest interventions for improvement. An analysis of total admissions, different surgeries, and mortalities over 1 year in an urban referral medical institute of northern India was performed, followed by "peer review" of the mortalities. Mortality rates as outcomes and classification was done to provide comparative results. Of 10,005 surgical patients, 337 (male = 221, female = 116) deaths were reported over 1 year. The overall mortality rate was 3.36%, while mortality in operative cases was 1.76%. Total deaths were classified into (1) Viable: 153 (45%), (2) Nonviable: 174 (52%), and (3) Indeterminate: 10 (3%). Exclusion of the nonviable group reduced the mortality rate from 3.36% to 1.62%. Trauma was the major cause of mortality (n = 235; 70%) as compared to other surgical patients (n = 102; 30%). Increased mortality was also associated with emergency procedures (3.66%) as compared to elective surgeries (0.34%). In conclusion, audit of mortality and morbidity helps in initiating and implementing preventive strategies to improve surgical practice and patient care, and to reduce mortality rates. The mortality and morbidity forum is an important educational activity. It should be considered a mandatory activity in all postgraduate training programs.

Tubulocystic renal cell carcinoma of the kidney is a rare entity with less than one hundred cases reported so far. It was previously considered to have some similarities to various other renal cancers although this tumor has distinct macroscopic, microscopic and immuno-histochemical features. It is now a well-established entity in renal neoplastic pathology and has been recognized as a distinct entity in the 2012 Vancouver classification of renal tumors. This review aims to give an overview of tubulocystic renal cell carcinoma after extensive literature search using PubMed and CrossRef.

Laparoscopic peritoneal lavage has evolved as a good alternative to invasive surgery, yet clear indications for its role in the management of complicated diverticulitis need to be established. Recent evidence suggests that existing guidelines for optimal management of complicated diverticulitis should be updated. Non-resectional radiographic techniques are likely to play a prominent role in the initial treatment of complicated diverticulitis in the near future.

Austrian syndrome is a very rare manifestation of invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae infection comprising a triad of pneumonia, meningitis, and endocarditis, also known as Osler’s triad. We herein report a rare case of Austrian syndrome further complicated by septic arthritis.

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