High-grade renal trauma in children and adolescents can be successfully managed non-operatively.

Background: This paper reviews our experience with management of renal injuries in children and adolescents with a focus on the outcome of non-operative management (NOM).

Methods: Retrospective review of the clinical characteristics, injury grade (I-III, low grade and IV and V high grade), management and outcomes of children ≤ 18 years old with renal trauma presenting to a major trauma centre in South Africa between December 2012 and October 2020.

Results: Sixty-one children with a renal injury were identified with a median age of 13 (range 0-18) years.

Experience and perceptions of laparoscopic appendectomy amongst surgical trainees in South Africa.

Background: TThis study is a survey amongst surgical trainees in South Africa (SA) designed to document their exposure to laparoscopic appendicectomy (LA) and their perceptions about the procedure and to identify possible barriers to its uptake.

Methods: A structured survey was developed using a combination of quantitative and qualitative questions designed to determine the clinical exposure of surgical trainees to laparoscopic appendectomy and then probe possible factors limiting their access to the procedure. A questionnaire was created online, and a link was distributed to various surgical trainees in Southern Africa.

Childhood and adolescent trauma in Pietermaritzburg is a neglected sub-epidemic within a larger epidemic and warrants a dedicated service.

Background: This study reviews our experience with paediatric trauma to help plan and strengthen ongoing strategies to deal with trauma in our region.

Methods: All children and adolescents less than 18 years of age who were admitted to our centre following trauma between December 2012 and October 2020 were reviewed.

Results: Over the 8-year period, 2 091 children were admitted with trauma to Grey's Hospital.

Retrospective cohort study of paediatric splenic injuries at a major adult trauma centre in South Africa identifies areas of success and improvement.

This study reviews our experience with paediatric splenic trauma in a major trauma centre in South Africa. We reviewed the management and outcomes of 66 paediatric patients and concluded that selective non-operative management of paediatric splenic trauma can be undertaken successfully in a middle-income country such as South Africa. The grade of splenic injury itself is rarely the sole determinant of operative or non-operative treatment and clinical outcome.

Culling recolonizing mesopredators increases livestock losses: Evidence from the South African Karoo.

Populations of adaptable mesopredators are expanding globally where passive rewilding and natural recolonization are taking place, increasing the risk of conflict with remaining livestock farmers. We analysed data from two social surveys of farmers in the Karoo, South Africa, where black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas) and caracals (Caracal caracal) have re-emerged as a threat to sheep farms in the context of falling agricultural employment and the expansion of natural areas. We show that irrespective of measurement approach, lethal control of mesopredators in this fragmented socio-economic landscape was associated with increased livestock losses the following year.