Cutaneous and subcutaneous metastases of rectal cancer.

The occurrence of cutaneous metastatic disease from colorectal cancer is uncommon and typically signifies widespread disease with poor prognosis. Colorectal metastases usually occur within the first 3 years of follow up, and the median survival of patients after the appearance of cutaneous metastatic lesions is 18 to 20 months. We describe an unusual case of a 60-year-old woman with a metachronous skin lesion as the sole site of metastatic disease, and a relatively long interval between the appearance of skin metastases and death.

Spontaneous pneumoperitoneum without peritonitis.

Spontaneous pneumoperitoneum without peritonitis is a rare phenomenon which poses a dilemma to the surgeon faced with this problem. Two such cases and their outcome are presented. The first case was caused by barotrauma during positive pressure ventilation and was treated by laparotomy.

Postoperative infections in breast surgery.

The rate of infections in mastectomy wounds is apparently higher than normally allowed for in clean operations. A retrospective analysis of our results over two time periods shows a 6.4% infection rate for a one-step operation and 11.