General surgeon performed emergency craniotomies in regional Queensland hospitals: a 20-year state-wide study on patient outcomes.

Background: Traumatic brain injuries account for up to 50% of trauma related deaths and if surgical intervention is indicated, consensus suggests a maximum of 4 hours to surgical decompression. The occurrence and outcomes of craniotomies performed by non-neurosurgeons in regional Queensland hospitals have never been reported previously in the literature.

Methods: A retrospective review was performed at all regional Queensland hospitals without an on-site neurosurgical service from January 2001 to December 2022 to identify patients undergoing emergency craniotomy.

An Amyand Hernia With Concurrent Appendicitis Secondary to a Neuroendocrine Neoplasm: A Case Report.

Amyand's hernia (AH) describes the rare instance of a vermiform appendix within an inguinal hernia. Primary appendiceal neoplasms are also rare with the majority of cases being found incidentally during routine histopathology. This case reports the management of a 15-year-old male, who presented to the emergency department with acute appendicitis located within an indirect right inguinal hernia, which was ultimately secondary to a neuroendocrine tumor (NET) with serosal involvement.

Partial Splenectomy and Splenic Wrapping for a High-Grade Splenic Injury: A Case Report.

The spleen is one of the most commonly injured organs in blunt abdominal trauma, accounting for a vast portion of solid organ injuries, and may lead to rapid haemodynamic instability, requiring urgent operative intervention. Total splenectomies result in relative immunocompromise, with a risk of overwhelming post-splenectomy infection (OPSI) post splenectomy. This case reports the surgical management of a 20-year-old male with a grade IV splenic laceration after a motor vehicle accident.

Choledocholithiasis: A Review of Management and Outcomes in a Regional Setting.

Background Choledocholithiasis is a common surgical presentation with an incidence of 8% to 16% in symptomatic cholelithiasis. Treatment often requires a multi-stage approach via endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), which can prolong the length of stay (LoS) and expose patients to unnecessary risks. A single-stage procedure, such as LC with common bile duct exploration (CBDE), is a safe and effective option that may decrease LoS.

Utility of routine chest radiographs after chest drain removal in paediatric cardiac surgical patients-a retrospective analysis of 1076 patients.

Objectives: Chest drains are routinely placed in children following cardiac surgery. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of a clinically relevant pneumothorax and/or pleural effusion after drain removal and to ascertain if a chest radiograph can be safely avoided following chest drain removal.

Methods: This single-centre retrospective cohort study included all patients under 18 years of age who underwent cardiac surgery between January 2015 and December 2019 with the insertion of mediastinal and/or pleural drains.