Haemangioma is the most common benign neoplasm of infantile age. It is most commonly located in head and neck region, trunk and extremities but very rarely it can be located at clitoris. However, it is very important to differentiate clitoral haemangioma from enlargement of the clitoris secondary to androgen excess. Only four cases of clitoromegaly caused by cavernous haemangioma have been reported in the literature so far. Herein, we report our experience with a 10-year-old girl who presented with clitoromegaly and normal hormonal assay that turned out to be clitoral cavernous haemangioma after histopathological examination of the clitoral mass.

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.

The aim of this study was to evaluate pain management in paediatric surgery at Sylvanus Olympio University Teaching Hospital, Lome. A prospective descriptive study was conducted in the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care at Sylvanus Olympio teaching hospital from 1 January to 30 June 2012. Data collected include: demography, type of surgery, American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) classification, anaesthetic protocol, analgesia technique, post-operative complications and cost of analgesia. The study includes 106 post-operative children. Abdominal surgery was performed in 41.5% and orthopaedic surgery in 31.1%. A total of 75% of patients were classified ASA 1. General anaesthesia (GA) was performed in 88%. Anaesthetists supervised post-operative care in 21.7% cases. Multimodal analgesia was used in every case and 12% of patients received a regional block. The most frequently unwanted effects of analgesics used were nausea and/or vomiting in 12.3%. At H24, child under 7 years have more pain assessment than those from 7 to 15 years (46% vs 24%) and this difference was statistically significant (chi-square = 4.7598; P = 0.0291 < 0.05). The average cost of peri-operative analgesia under loco regional analgesia (LRA) versus GA during the first 48 h post-operative was US $23 versus $46. Our study showed that post-operative pain management in paediatric surgery is often not well controlled and paediatric loco regional analgesia technique is under practiced in sub Saharan Africa.

Plastibell device is a satisfactory method of circumcision in infants. However the most common post-operative complication was bleeding (especially from the frenulum site). As a result, we introduce a novel modification of the device to prevent this complication. A prospective comparative study of Plastibell circumcision in infants up to the age of 12 months was conducted, using conventional Plastibell device and modified Plastibell device circumcision. In The first group (1000 infants), circumcision was performed with conventional Plastibell device while in the second group (4500 infants), circumcision was done with modified Plastibell device. The mean age was 8 weeks. The mean operating time were 8.5 min and 5.9 min for conventional Plastibell ring and modified Plastibell device circumcision respectively. The most common postoperative complication in first groups was bleeding. This modified Plastibell device, prevents the most series complication of bleeding. It is fast and ensures excellent cosmoses compared with the standard Plastibell template circumcision. Also it is easy to perform and allows the paediatric surgeon to achieve consistently excellent cosmetic results. Moreover, the shorter operating time makes circumcision by the modified Plastibell device a more practical method. The technique will be described in detail.

We compared the analgesic effects of caudal and ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block using bupivacaine-clonidine performed in children undergoing inguinal hernia repair. The ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block provides excellent pain relief for operations on the inguinal region, including emergency procedures (e.g. strangulated inguinal hernia with intestinal obstruction). It should be preferred to caudal block for these procedures. After local ethics committee approval and written parental consent, 67 ASA class I - II patients aged between 2-7 years old scheduled for elective inguinal hernia repair were allocated randomly into two groups after general anesthesia with same drugs in both groups. Group C received caudal block with 1 ml/kg bupivacaine 0.25% combined with 1 μg/kg clonidine, and group I received ilioinguinal- iliohypogastric nerve block with 0.3 ml /kg bupivacaine 0.25% combined with 1 μg/kg clonidine. Blood pressure and heart rate were documented every 5 minutes. Post-operative analgesia, analgesic use and side-effects were assessed during first 24 hours. In group C, 7 / 34 and in group I, 12/33 patients required post-operative analgesia (P = 0.174). Five patients (15.5%) in group I and one patient (2.94%) in group C had severe pain after operation. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased during operation, but the differences between two groups were not significant (P = 0.176, P = 0.111). Heart rate changes between two groups were insignificant (P = 0.182). It seems that in children, caudal epidural block and ilioinguinal - iliohypogastric nerve block using bupivacaine-clonidine have comparable effects on analgesia, severity of pain and hemodynamic changes during and after surgery on inguinal region.

A leakage of intestinal anastomosis is typically regarded as a devastating post-operative complication. Traditionally its believed that long fasting after intestinal surgery protect anastomosis site and most surgeons applied this method. Post-operative long fasting has many physical and mental adverse effects, especially in children, but its benefit has not proven yet. This study aimed to compare the outcomes of early and late oral feeding in intestinal resection and anastomosis surgery in children. This randomized, double-blind controlled trial evaluated the outcome of early-feeding following in children aged 1 month to 12 years who underwent intestinal resection and anastomosis and compared the results with those who had late-feeding. The results were anlysed for fever, nausea and vomiting, abdominal distension, first passage of gas and stool were also evaluated hospital stay time, major post-operative complications such as anastomosis leakage, wound infection or dehiscence, intra-abdominal abscess between the two groups. The mean time of first oral feeding in the early feeding group (study group) was 2.5 ± 0.7 days but it was 5.3 ± 0.6 days in the late feeding group (control group). There was no mortality in both groups. There was no difference in major complications in both groups (anastomosis leakage). In the study group, first defecation time was shorter than the control group (3.7 days v. 4.4 days) and they had less hospital stay also (5.2 days vs. 8.3 days) and lower cost of hospitalization. Early oral feeding after intestinal resection and anastomosis in children is a safe method, it has many benefits and does not increase the major or minor post-operative complications (anastomosis leakage) long time fasting is not necessary and has not any beneficial effect and early feeding increases satisfaction of the parents and children, and reduce hospital stay and costs.

As a part of pre-operative evaluation, several otolaryngologists group and cross-match blood routinely for children undergoing adenoid and tonsil surgeries. This practice has generated several debates either in support or against this practice. The aim of this study is to critically evaluate the incidence of post-tonsillectomy (with or without adenoidectomy) bleeding and blood transfusions in otherwise healthy children with adenoid/tonsil pathologies conducted in the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH). A descriptive retrospective study of children who underwent adenoid and tonsil surgeries in the Department of Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) surgery of UPTH from January 2003 to December 2012. Children with family history of bleeding disorders and derangement of clotting profile as well as different co-morbidity like sickle cell disease were excluded from this study. The patients' data were retrieved from the registers of ENT out-patient clinics, theatre registers and patients case notes. Demographic data, indications for surgery, preoperative investigations, complications and management outcomes were recorded and analyzed. Out of 145 children that had adenoid and tonsil surgeries; only 100 met the criteria for this study. The study subjects included 65 males and 35 females (male: female ratio 1.9:1) belonging to 0-16 years age group (mean age: 3.46 ± 2.82 years). The age group of 3-5 years had the highest (n = 40, 40%) number of surgeries. Adenotonsillectomy was the commonest (n = 85, 85%) surgery performed on patients who had obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The commonest (n = 6, 6%) complication was haemorrhage, and only few (n = 3, 3%) patients had blood transfusion. However, mortality was recorded in some (n = 3, 3%) patients. This study confirms that the incidence of post adenoidectomy/tonsillectomy bleeding in otherwise healthy children is low and rarely requires blood transfusion. We can conclude that routine preoperative blood grouping and cross-matching of blood for all children undergoing elective adenoid and tonsil surgeries seemed irrelevant and not cost effective. However, it could be carried out in only special circumstances.

Injury has been recognised as a preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in children. The aim of this study was to determine the aetiology, pattern and location of childhood injuries in north east Nigeria. This is a 3-year retrospective hospital-based descriptive study. The study included 114 children (77 boys, 37 girls; mean age 6.4 ± 3.2 years; range 2 months to 15 years) who were admitted for various injuries in the female/paediatric surgical ward from January 2007 to December 2009. Information obtained from their case notes included demographic data, mechanism of injury, location of injury, anatomical site of injury and outcome of treatment. Records for 114 children (77 boys, 37 girls; mean age 6.2 years; range 2 months to 15 years) were available for analysis. The highest number of injuries occurred in the age group 6-10 years. Home was the most common location of injury among the age group 0-5 years while older children sustained most of their injuries outside the home on the street/highways. Burns from hot water was the most common injury among children aged 0-5 years while pedestrian accident accounted for the highest cause of injury among older children. Fall accounted for 20.2% of the injuries. The most common specific anatomic injury was head injury followed by limb fractures. Two mortalities were recorded (1.8%). This study provided useful information on the characteristics of childhood injuries in our environment. There is the need for parents and children education about the risks of injury and preventive measures in addition to legislation and policy on environmental modifications and enforcements to significantly reduce childhood injury.