Background: Single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) has gained great popularity in paediatric surgery due to its minimally invasive approach and improved cosmetic results. Notwithstanding, reports describing its adoption in children are still fragmentary and some perplexities have been raised by some surgeons. We reviewed our experience with the SILS Palomo varicocelectomy procedure (SIL-V) in children and adolescents, comparing this group with a similar series operated using conventional laparoscopic varicocelectomy (CL-V). Patients and Methods: A total of 69 Palomo laparoscopic varicocelectomies were performed in patients aged 11-17 years from January 2011 to January 2013. Indications for surgery included grades II-III varicocele or ipsilateral testicular hypotrophy. The SIL-V procedure was performed in 44 patients with roticulating and conventional 5 mm instruments. Testicular vessels were isolated "en bloc," clipped and cut. Operating time, visual analogue scale and post-operative results were compared to a similar group of 25 patients operated with CL-V. Results: No patient of the SIL-V group required conversion to conventional laparoscopy, none to open surgery. Mean operative time was 22 min (range: 19-28) in the SIL-V group, not significantly different compared with CL-V (mean 21 min, range: 18-25). All patients experienced a smooth recovery from surgery without any complications, and were discharged on day 1. No difficulties were found in the SIL-V group. The post-operative pain score was significantly better in SIL-V. Conclusion: The SIL-V procedure is safe and effective and allows a fast and efficient isolation of the vascular bundle. The use of conventional instruments is technically feasible in SIL-V.

Background: To evaluate the effectiveness of surgical intervention in managing empyema thoracis in children. Patients and Methods: A total of 70 patients aged 1-14 years diagnosed to have empyema thoracis and who underwent tube thoracostomy from January 2010 to December 2013 were studied. All patients of which 12 patients needed decortication. Results: The mean age of the study group was 5.44 years and 48.6% were male and 51.4% were female. The most common symptoms at admission were fever (90%), dyspnoea (73%), cough (70%) and chest pain (23%). Pleural fluid cultures were sterile in 60% of patients. The most frequently identified micro-organisms was Staphylococcus aureus (34.2%). Treatment with chest tube drainage was successful in 55 (78.6%) patients. Three patients got expired. Twelve patients had decortications, all of which were successful. The lung re-expansion time was 8.00 ± 1.68 days (range: 5-13 days) in those patients in whom chest tube drainage was successful, whereas it was 7.50 ± 2.623 days (range: 4-14 days) in patients in whom decortication was done. The post-procedure stay was 10.00 ± 1.809 days (range: 7-15 days) in patients with successful chest tube drainage and 9.5 ± 2.902 days (range: 6-17 days) in case of decortication cases. Conclusion: Tube thoracostomy should be done in all cases of empyema thoracis regardless of stage, as this leads to reduction in septic load. Decision of decortication should be taken without any delay.

Background: Enteric duplication (ED) cysts include a wide variety of cystic lesions, which can involve any part of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). They can be referred to foregut, midgut, hindgut derived, depending upon the portion of GIT involved. The main purpose of this study was to document the variety of presentation, investigations, and treatment options employed. Patients and Methods: This was a retrospective study at Paediatric Surgery Department of Services Hospital, Lahore from August, 2011 to August, 2013. The details of all the patients, including gender, and age, presenting complaint, abdominal examination findings, diagnostic modality, site, type, associated malformations, surgical option, and outcome were analysed. Results: A total of eight patients with histopathological diagnosis of EDs managed were included in the study. Of these eight patients, six were males and two were females, with an average age of 2.4 years. The main diagnostic tool used was ultrasound in almost all patients. The most commonly involved site was ileum in 5 of 8 (62.5%) patients. Two cases had gastric involvement, while one patient had involvement of the descending colon. Six of eight were of tubular type (75%), while remaining 2 (25%) were of cystic type. Excision was possible in all these patients. Conclusion: ED can present with a wide spectrum of symptomatology. It can present as mass abdomen, intestinal obstruction or even can mimic as hydrocoele. High index of suspicion is therefore required. Ultimate aim of treatment is excision of cyst with preservation of vascularity of native gut.

Background: A comparative study of topical feracrylum citrate versus adrenaline to minimise haemorrhage-related complications in paediatric hypospadiac patients. Patients and Methods: A total of 108 consecutive paediatric hypospadiac patients (48 in the study group and 60 control - random allocation) were studied. In the study group, 1% feracrylum citrate solution was used and adrenaline (1:100,000) in controls. Results: Among the study group, average number of blood-soaked gauge pieces were 2.95/patient, correlating with average intraoperative blood loss of 14.74 ml. In controls, average blood-soaked gauge pieces were 4.83/patient corresponding to an average blood loss of 24.13 ml. The average amount of blood loss during surgery in the <5 years was 13.70 ml/patient in the feracrylum group, while the same in the adrenaline group was 23.45 ml. Average duration of surgery was 79 min in the study group, while the same in controls was 94 min/patient. Average number of cauterisations was 0.255/patient in the study group and 0.583/patient among controls. Postoperative haematoma was seen in 8% study group compared with 18% controls. Wound oedema appeared in 4.17% study group and 11.67% controls. Postoperative complications were higher among controls. Conclusions: Feracrylum is more efficient and safer topical haemostatic agent than adrenaline. It reduced the frequency of cauterisation and tissue damage, intraoperative blood loss, and postoperative complications.

Background: Sedation in children remains a controversial issue in emergency departments (ED). Midazolam, as a benzodiazepine is widely used for procedural sedation among paediatrics. We compared the effectiveness and safety of two forms of midazolam prescription; intramuscular (IM) and intravenous (IV). Patients and Methods: A cohort study was conducted on two matched groups of 30 children referred to our ED between 2010 and 2011. The first group received IM midazolam (0.3 mg/kg) and the second group received IV midazolam (0.15 mg/kg) for sedation. For evaluating effectiveness, sedation, irritation and cooperation score were followed every 15 min for 60 min and for safety assessment, vital signs and O ₂ saturation were observed. Results: Mean age was 6.18 ± 2.88 years and 31 patients (51.7%) were male. All patients were sedated completely after using first dose. There was an overall complication rate of 68.3%. 35 (58.3%) patients presented euphoria as the most common complication, but there was no statistical difference between the two groups (P = 0.396). Cases who received IV midazolam became sedated faster than those received IM midazolam (P > 0.001). The vital signs including heart rate, respiratory rate, systolic blood pressure and O ₂ saturation changed significantly between and within groups during the sedation (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Both forms of midazolam, IM and IV, are effective and safe for paediatric sedation in ED. Although the sedative with IV form might appear sooner, IM form of midazolam can be effectively used in patient with limited IV access. Patients are better to observe closely for psychological side-effects.

Background: Foreign body aspiration (FBA) is a common cause of respiratory compromise in early childhood. The objective of this study was to describe the features and outcomes of children with FBA in early and late presentations and to examine the reasons for the delay in diagnosis. Patients and Methods: This is a retrospective review of all children who were admitted with suspected FBA between July 2001 and June 2010. Patient's characteristics, history, clinical, radiographic, bronchoscopic findings, reason for delay presentation, and complications were noted. Results: A total of 158 children admitted to the hospital with suspected FBA were included in this study. The average age was 3.28 years. Forty-eight (30.3%) children were presented late (more than 14 days after FBA) and 110 (69.7%) children were presented early (0-14 days). The common clinical manifestations of FBA were persistent cough (100%) and choking (72%). The most frequent radiological finding observed was air trapping (40%) followed by atelectasis (14%). Chest radiographs were normal in 32.2% patients. Ten children in early diagnosis group and 29 children in late diagnosis group presented with complications. The diagnosis delay was mainly attributed to physician misdiagnosis (41.6%). Rigid bronchoscopy was performed in all patients. Foreign body was found in all of the cases except six. Watermelon seeds and peanuts accounted for 80% of the aspiration. Conclusion: FBA is difficult to diagnose in children. Delay in diagnosis appears to result from a failure to give serious consideration to the diagnosis. Early diagnosis and removal of foreign bodies must be achieved to avoid complications.

Background: The aim of the following study is to report our management experience and outcome of transanal protrusion of intussusceptions. Patients and Methods: Retrospective analysis of all cases of intussusceptions protruding through the anal opening from January 2008 to June 2013. Results: Of 62 cases of intussusceptions, transanal protrusion occurred in 10 patients (16% anal protrusion rate) with a male:female ratio of 2:3. They were aged 4-96 months (mean 22.6 ± 30.7, median 7.5 months). Six were infants while four were above 1 year. Duration of symptoms ranged from 2 to 14 days (mean 5.9 days ± 3.4) with only two patients presenting within 48 h. Clinical features included vomiting (100%), abdominal pains (100%), bloody mucoid stool (100%), abdominal distension (90%), and palpable left iliac fossa mass (70%). Three patients had preceding diarrhoea (30%) and two had preceding upper respiratory tract infection (20%). Duration of hospital stay ranged from 5 to 23 days (mean 12 days ± 5.6). Findings at surgery included seven ileocolic and two colocolic intussusceptions (one patient died before surgery). Operative procedures were right hemicolectomy (5), operative manual reduction (3), left hemicolectomy (1) giving a 67% bowel resection rate. One patient died giving a 10% mortality rate. Conclusion: Transanal protrusion occurred more in females and is associated with late presentation, older age, high bowel resection rate, and high mortality.

Background: Biliary atresia (BA) is a progressive inflammatory destructive process of the bile ducts. This study evaluated the relationship between single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the promoter region of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) gene and bilaiary atresia. Materials and Methods: Genomic deoxyribonucleic acid from 16 patients with established diagnosis of BA and 36 patients with INC was obtained. The genotypes of TNF-α-1031 (T/C) and TNF-α-308 (G/A) were determined using the restriction fragment length polymorphism-polymerase chain reaction and the results were analysis with proper statistic software. Results: The frequencies of T/T, T/C in TNF-α-1031 and G/G, G/A in TNF-α-308 were as same as control group. Moreover, we have same deduction for allele frequency and haplotypes analysis (T allele: 84.37%; G allele: 87.5%) in BA patients (T allele: 80.56%; G allele: 86.11%) in controls. In all cases variants of polymorphism did not affect the severity or incidence of BA disease. Conclusion: although no significant associations were found between BA and control groups, it seems meaningful that since the nature of BA is multi factorial. Next step will be considering a new target such as downstream modulation of the TNF-α pathway or other cytokines and chemokines which act directly/indirectly.

Background: The objective of this study was to report our experience and outcome in the management of oesophageal foreign body (EFB) in suspected cases of foreign body (FB) ingestion. Materials and Methods: Records of children with documented EFB ingestion treated in the Department of Pediatric surgery from January 1997 to December 2012 were analysed. Diagnosis was made on the basis of history, clinical examination and radiological evaluation. Stronger index of suspicion was kept in cases of sudden onset of symptoms with an inappropriate history of FB ingestion. Results: A total of 317 children underwent emergency rigid oesophagoscopy for EFB. Out of these, 206 were males and 111 were females. The most common EFB found was coins in 209 (65.9%) cases, followed by food bolus obstruction in 54 (17%), metallic FB in 29 (9.1%), plastic FB in 21 (6.6%), and button batteries in 14 (4.4%) cases. The most common site of FB impaction was found to be cricopharynx in 291 (92%) cases. Conclusions: High index of suspicion should be kept for EFB in children who present with unavailable history of FB ingestion. The wait-and-watch policy in cases of FB oesophagus is not always the correct approach, especially when it presents as respiratory distress of sudden onset.

Background: The objective of this study was to assess the complications of peripherally inserted central venous catheters (PICC) in neonates admitted to neonatal surgical intensive care unit (NSICU). Patients and Methods: Retrospective analysis of 237 neonates admitted to NSICU from January 2010 to December 2011 was done. Results: Mean age at presentation was 5.8 days and mean weight was 1.94 kg. Mean number of attempts was 1.14, mean duration of insertion 8.4 min and mean duration of patency of catheter 3.14 days. Most common site of catheter insertion was upper extremity (basilic followed by cephalic). Overall complications were seen in 47 (23%) cases. Infectious complications were seen in 22 (10.7%) and non-infectious in 25 (12.2%) cases. Significant correlation existed between non-infective complications and insertion site (P = 0.03) and duration of PICC (P = 0.04). Conclusion: Precautions should be taken and position must be confirmed during and after PICC insertion to avoid undue complications.

Background: The objective of the following study is to assess effect of a novel surgical technique on long-term outcome in operated cases of congenital pouch colon (CPC). Patients and Methods: We retrospectively analysed our surgical neonatal records from June 2002 to May 2012. Out of 477 cases of anorectal malformations, CPC was found in 73 (15%) cases. Out of 73 cases of CPC, 39 (53.4%) were complete pouch and 34 (46.6%) were incomplete. In addition to invertogram, an erect skiagram was done in all cases to confirm diagnosis. Patients were operated either by single stage pull-through or by staged procedure using conventional abdominoperineal (AP) pull-through or by our new hanging bowel technique. All patients were put on bowel management programme starting 1 month post-surgery until 5 years of life. Results: Children presented to us at median age of 2.1 days. Mean weight at time of presentation was 2.74 kg. In our study, group median age at time of initial procedure was 2.7 days. In staged procedures definitive surgery was done after 6 months. Hospital stay in single stage procedure using the hanging bowel technique was 9.7 days while 17.4 days in conventional AP pull-through. Complication rate were high in conventional pull-through when compared to hanging bowel technique as shown by the significant P < 0.05. Conclusion: Our novel surgical technique for pull-through is suitable for both single stage as well as staged pull-through. Bowel enema programme should be an integral part of management of CPC.

Background: Our objective was to assess types, presentation, duration of symptoms and usefulness of rigid bronchoscopy for diagnosis and treatment of bronchial foreign body (FB) in children. Materials and Methods: Records of children with documented FB aspiration treated in Department of Paediatric Surgery from January 1991 to December 2012 were analysed retrospectively. Diagnosis was made on the basis of history, clinical examination, radiological evaluation and bronchoscopy. Results: A total of 196 children underwent emergency rigid bronchoscopy for suspected bronchial FB and in 173 cases FB was found. Out of 173 cases, 118 (68.21%) were males and 55 (31.79%) were females. Mean age was 3.7 years (range: 2 months-12 years) while mean duration of symptoms was 28 h (range: from 3 h to 4 months). Most common FB bronchus found was peanut 141 (81.50%). FB was localised to right bronchus in 112 (64.74%) cases while in 44 (25.43%) cases left bronchus was involved. In 17 (9.83%) cases FB was seen at carina only. Cough was the most common presenting symptom in 131 (75.72%) cases. The most common finding in chest X-ray was consolidation-collapse lung or emphysematous lung in 83 (47.97%) cases followed by the flattening of the diaphragm in 17 (9.83%) cases. In 35 (20.23%) cases chest X-ray was found to be normal. Pre-operative endotracheal intubation was done in 13 (7.51%) cases while 20 (11.56%) cases required post-operative mechanical ventilation. Conclusion: High index of suspicion should be kept for bronchial FB in children who present with suggestive history of FB ingestion even with normal physical and radiological evaluation.

Background: Huge umbilical hernias (HUH) are voluminous umbilical hernia (UH) that are frequent in black African children. Several surgical techniques are used in their treatment for umbilical reconstruction, but techniques using skin flaps provide better aesthetic results. In this study, we presented our technique of umbilicoplasty in HUH, and its results. Patients and Methods: It is a retrospective study on children treated for HUH, from January 2012 to December 2013. The UH was called HUH when its basis diameter (BD) exceeds 3 cm. Every HUH was characterised by its height, BD and morphology. Our technique was a two lateral flaps technique; the flaps are symmetrical and drawn so as to reconstitute the different parts of the umbilicus. The results were appreciated with criteria, including the peripheral ring and the central depression of the neo-umbilicus. Results : Twelve children were concerned (7 boys and 5 girls). Their mean age was 5 years and 6 months. The mean BD was 5.6 cm (extremes 3 and 8 cm), and the mean height of the HUH was 7.45 cm (extremes 3 and 9 cm). All underwent umbilicoplasty. In early post-operative period, two children presented a transitory subcutaneous hematoma. Late complications were granulation tissue with two children, and cheloid scar with one. With a mean follow-up of 10 months, we had 10 excellent results and two fair results according to our criteria. Conclusion: Our two lateral flaps umbilicoplasty is well-adapted to HUH in children. It is simple and assures a satisfactory anatomical and cosmetic result.

Colo-colonic intussusception (CI) due to a colonic polyp is a rarely reported cause of intestinal obstruction in school-aged children. Hydrostatic reduction (HR) and endoscopic polypectomy are minimally invasive and technically feasible for treating CI. We report a case of CI and review the literature, focusing on the diagnosis and treatment.

Polyarteritis Nodosa (PAN) is a rare systemic necrotising vasculitis of medium and small-sized arteries. Patients typically present with systemic symptoms. Obstructive intestinal symptoms are described but usually resolve with treatment of the underlying vascular disease. We report a case of a one year old boy with multiple ischemic small bowel strictures secondary to infantile PAN, who was treated with resection of the affected segments by single port laparoscopy.

Gastric duplication cysts are an uncommon congenital anomaly and rectal bleeding is a rare presentation of a complicated gastric duplication cyst. This case report describes the radiological findings in a child with a complicated gastric duplication cyst.

Crossed testicular ectopia or transverse testicular ectopia is an extremely rare anomaly characterised by migration of one testis towards the opposite inguinal canal, usually associated with unilateral inguinal hernia. This report describes six cases of crossed ectopic testes, one of the largest series, and with unusual clinical histories.

Nasogastric intubation is one of the most common routine nonoperative procedures available for the hospital care of patients. The insertion and removal of this tube is associated with many complications. The complications include trauma, nasal septal abscess and inadvertent entry into the cranial cavity and trachea, ulceration, bleeding from varices and perforation. Knotting of the nasogastric tube is one of the very rare complications of nasogastric intubation particularly in children. To the best of our knowledge there are very few reported cases in children. The technique used in the patient was the application of a steady tug which allows the lower oesophageal sphincter to open, therefore enabling the removal of the nasogastric tube. The possible predispositions to knotting of a nasogastric tube include small bore tubes, excess tube length and gastric surgery. We postulate that reduced gastric tone is another possible predisposing factor with head injury being the most likely reason in the index patient. We also challenge the fact that the small sized stomach is a risk factor for knotting of a feeding tube if the functional status and tone are normal, because of the rarity in children.

A very rare case of noncommunicating multiple intra and retroperitoneal enteric duplication cysts (EDCs) is reported and discussed. Two large noncommunicating EDCs, one within the mesentery of proximal jejunum causing complete luminal obstruction and other isolated cyst in retroperitoneal area displacing duodenum and extrahepatic biliary system, were resected successfully in a 2-day-old neonate along with correction of malrotation.