Background:Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is one of the complications which hamper the successful implementation of day care surgical procedure in spite of the availability of so many antiemetic drugs and regimens for its prevention. The aim was to compare the prophylactic effects of intravenously (IV) administered ondansetron and palonosetron on PONV prevention in patients undergoing laparoscopic gynecological surgery under general anesthesia.Methods:A prospective double-blind study comprised of 60 ASAI/II female patients between the age group of 25 and 40 years was carried out in the Departments of Anesthesiology and Obstetrics and Gynecology of our institute. Patients were randomly divided into two groups of 30 patients each in a double-blind manner. Group I received 8 mg of inj. ondansetron IV while group II received inj. palonosetron 0.075 mg IV 5 minutes before the induction of anesthesia. The need for rescue antiemetics, episodes of PONV and other side effects were observed for 6 hours in the postanesthesia care unit and thereafter complaints were received on phone after the discharge. At the end of study, results were compiled and statistical data was subjected to statistical analysis using Student two-tailed ‘t’ and χ2 test and value of P<0.05 was considered significant.Results:The demographical profile of the patients was comparable. Twenty and 13.33% of the patients in group I had nausea and vomiting episodes postoperatively as compared to 6.67% and 3.33%, respectively, in group II which was statistically significant (P<0.05). Twenty percent of the patients in group I experienced significant post-op headache as compared to 6.67% in group II. The mean rescue dose of antiemetic was significantly higher (10.6 mg) in the group I as compared to group II (6.4 mg) (P=0.036). The rest of parameters were comparable and statistically nonsignificant.Conclusions:Palonosetron is a comparatively better drug to prevent the PONV in patients undergoing day care surgical procedures as compared to ondansetron as it has got a prolonged duration of action and favorable side-effects profile.

Objectives: Medical abortion is definitely a safer and a better option but in developing countries, its widespread misuse has led to partial or septic abortion thereby increasing maternal mortality and morbidity. The study was carried out to analyze the use and misuse of abortion pill and to analyze the factors responsible for avoiding the government facilities. Methods: The study included all female patients who visited the rural health centre of our institute with pre-tested questionnaire, designed in a manner to obtain the qualitative information regarding their attitude towards the abortion services, use of medical methods of abortion and the current contraceptive practices among them. At the end of study, the data was compiled systematically and was subjected to statistical analysis with simple non parametric tests and the value of P<0.05 was considered significant. Results: Only 49.62% of the patients had complete abortion while rest was reported with incomplete (41.54%), septic (6.54%) or failed abortion (1.15%) or ectopic pregnancy (1.15%). Local dais (36.55%) and pharmacists (29.61) were the main channels of procurement of pills used for medical abortion. Non-availability of medical methods (65.38%) and compulsion for the accompanied contraception (35%) were the most commonly cited reasons for avoiding government sector facilities. Conclusions: The low level of awareness, education and misuse of medical methods of abortion are responsible for converting a safe abortion into an unsafe practice. We suggest for an urgent need for strict legislations by the government to regulate the supply of drugs used for medical abortion.

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An 11-month-old male child weighing 8 kg was brought to the plastic surgery out-patient department by his parents with chief complaints of sudden increase in size of a swelling over the upper lip and difficulty in feeding for the last 7 days. It was diagnosed as a case of hemangioma of the upper lip. All the routine and special investigations including coagulation profile of the child were normal. The child was planned for ablation of feeding vessels along with intralesional steroid injection. Airway management of the child posed the challenge for us as the size and site of the lesion carried the risk of difficult intubation and possible risk of extensive hemorrhage. All the requisite equipment for difficult airway management was made ready. We were able to intubate the child with miller number-2 blade from the left angle of mouth without putting much pressure on the swelling. The surgical and postoperative period was uneventful and the child was discharged the next day to be followed up after 2 weeks.

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Xylometazoline nasal drops used for nasal decongestion can have side-effect in the form of palpitation, hypertension, headache, and tremors. Anaphylaxis to xylometazoline nasal drops is a relatively unrecognized complication. We encountered a patient posted for tonsillectomy who developed serious anaphylaxis upon administration of a commercially available preparation of xylometazoline nasal drops and required aggressive management for stabilization. Further evaluation and literature search indicated toward the preservative (benzylalkonium chloride) as the cause of this adverse event.