PCD is a better treatment option than PNA for the management of large liver abscesses of size >10 cm, in terms of duration to attain clinical relief and duration for which parenteral antibiotics are needed.

PCD is a better treatment option than PNA for the management of large (>10 cm diameter) amoebic liver abscess, in terms of duration to attain clinical relief and duration for which parentral antibiotics were needed.

Objective:Biological dressings like collagen are impermeable to bacteria, and create the most physiological interface between the wound surface and the environment. Collagen dressings have other advantages over conventional dressings in terms of ease of application and being natural, non-immunogenic, non-pyrogenic, hypo-allergenic, and pain-free. This study aims to compare the efficacy of collagen dressing in treating burn and chronic wounds with that of conventional dressing materials.Materials and Methods:The records of 120 patients with chronic wounds of varied aetiologies and with mean age 43.7 years were collected and analyzed. The patients had been treated either with collagen or other conventional dressing materials including silver sulfadiazine, nadifloxacin, povidone iodine, or honey (traditional dressing material). Patients with co-morbidities that could grossly affect the wound healing like uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, chronic liver or renal disease, or major nutritional deprivation were not included. For the purpose of comparison the patients were divided into two groups; ‘Collagen group’ and ‘Conventional group’, each having 60 patients. For assessment the wound characteristics (size, edge, floor, slough, granulation tissue, and wound swab or pus culture sensitivity results) were recorded. With start of treatment, appearance of granulation tissue, completeness of healing, need for skin grafting, and patients’ satisfaction was noted for each patient in both groups.Results:With two weeks of treatment, 60% of the ‘collagen group’ wounds and only 42% of the ‘conventional group’ wounds were sterile (P=0.03). Healthy granulation tissue appeared earlier over collagen-dressed wounds than over conventionally treated wounds (P=0.03). After eight weeks, 52 (87%) of ‘collagen group’ wounds and 48 (80%) of ‘conventional group’ wounds were >75% healed (P=0.21). Eight patients in the ‘collagen group’ and 12 in the ‘conventional group’ needed partial split-skin grafting (P=0.04). Collagen-treated patients enjoyed early and more subjective mobility.Conclusion:No significant better results in terms of completeness of healing of burn and chronic wounds between collagen dressing and conventional dressing were found. Collagen dressing, however, may avoid the need of skin grafting, and provides additional advantage of patients’ compliance and comfort.

Objective:The aim was to evaluate the effect of honey dressing and silver sulfadiazene (SSD) dressing on wound healing in burn patients.Materials and Methods:We retrospectively reviewed the records of 108 patients (14–68 years of age), with first and second degree burns of less than 50% of the total body surface area admitted to our institution, over a period of 5 years (2004–2008). Fifty-one patients were treated with honey dressings and 57 with SSD. Time elapsed since burn, site, percentage, degree and depth of burns, results of culture sensitivity at various time intervals, duration of healing, formation of post-treatment hypertrophic scar, and/or contracture were recorded and analyzed.Results:The average duration of healing was 18.16 and 32.68 days for the honey and SSD group, respectively. Wounds of all patients reporting within 1 h of burns became sterile with the honey dressing in less than 7 days while there was none with SSD. All wounds treated with honey became sterile within 21 days while for SSD-treated wounds, this figure was 36.5%. A complete outcome was seen in 81% of all patients in the “honey group” while in only 37% patients in the “SSD group.”Conclusion:Honey dressings make the wounds sterile in less time, enhance healing, and have a better outcome in terms of hypertropic scars and postburn contractures, as compared to SSD dressings.

A review of the recent literature on the surgical management of anterior urethral stricture was performed. The literature was searched via PubMed using the search terms ‘urethral stricture’ and ‘urethroplasty’ from 1996 to 2009. The management of anterior urethral strictures is changing rapidly in the sense that the reconstructive procedures have evolved greatly. Penile skin, because of its location and because it is hairless, has been popular and used for a long time. Since the early 1990s, buccal mucosa graft (BMG) was introduced in urethral reconstructive surgery and has become the first choice of most practicing urologists. Recently, there has been an increase in the use of lingual mucosa graft with various doctors reporting easy harvesting and lesser morbidity in comparison to BMG. Also, fibrin glue has recently been used to fix the graft with promising results. With the success of tissue-engineered materials that are still in the experimental phase, the urologist would no longer be limited by the quantity of the graft. These substitutes will also boost the appealing scarless endoscopic urethroplasty. This article provides a brief up-to-date review of the main surgical techniques in the management of anterior urethral stricture disease for the contemporary practicing urologists. Present controversies have been given special emphasis. The possible future techniques and the future of the anterior urethral stricture surgery are also discussed in brief.

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Introduction Jejunal diverticulosis (JD) is a rare disease of elderly people. Majority of diagnosed individuals are asymptomatic and found incidentally. The disease is clinically signifi cant because of associated potential risk of serious complications. Due to the rarity and variable presentation of this clinical entity, diagnosis is often diffi cult and delayed, resulting in unnecessary morbidity and mortality. Clinical presentations, signs, diagnosis, complications and treatment of JD are discussed through a review of the literature and report of two cases.

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