Morbidity and vaginal tubal cautery: a report and review

Article Abstract:

Vaginal tubal sterilization is a method of causing infertility. It involves cauterization of the fallopian tubes, which connect the uterus to the ovary, by way of the vagina. This method of sterilization became less popular as techniques of laparoscopy were developing. Laparoscopy is the internal examination of the abdomen using a tube-like instrument with an optical system. Although vaginal tubal sterilization is thought to cause more frequent disability than laparoscopy, the use of antibiotics to prevent infection and shorter lengths of operation may reduce complications. The cases of 240 vaginal tubal sterilizations performed by one physician were reviewed. Fifty-two percent of patients were followed for more than five years. The average time to perform the procedure was 14.5 minutes, with more than 50 percent of cases completed within 12 minutes or less. Only two cases required additional surgery by laparotomy, the opening of the abdomen. In these two cases, the procedure was complicated by the discovery of adhesions, or abnormal fiber-like bands that adhere to organs and tissues within the abdomen. In most cases, blood loss was only 20 milliliters, and infection did not develop after the procedure. These findings suggest that vaginal tubal sterilization may still be considered a safe method of producing sterility. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Methods, Evaluation, Complications and side effects, Sterilization of women, Female sterilization, Fallopian tubes, Tubal sterilization

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Rectovulvar fistula in a child secondary to an unusual foreign body

Article Abstract:

Vaginal discharge in small children is usually the result of the insertion of an object into the vagina or of sexual abuse, complicated by a sexually transmitted disease. The case report is presented of a three-year-old girl with a vaginal discharge from yet another cause. The patient underwent two operations before the presence of a foreign body in the vagina was suspected. Further examination led to the discovery of a fistula (abnormal opening) between the rectum and the skin surface near the vulva. The fistula had been caused by an ingested bone that had perforated the patient's rectum. The bone then moved toward the skin of the vulva, but became trapped, becoming a site of infection and drainage. After its removal, the patient recovered with no signs of recurrent discharge. The source of infection was difficult to diagnose in this case before surgical exploration of the fistula. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Case studies, Infection, Diagnosis, Causes of, Pediatric diseases, Children, Diseases, Infection in children, Fistula, Rectal

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The application of a computer data base system to the generation of hospital discharge summaries

Article Abstract:

Many computer database packages can maintain accurate and timely records of resident experiences and the statistics for different sections and departments in a hospital. Discharge summaries, written when a patient is released from the hospital, may also be computerized in the same fashion. In one hospital department at The Medical College of Georgia, a computerized system dramatically speeded up the availability of patient information reports, a process which included data gathering and reporting, along with discharge summaries, letters to referring physicians and billing work sheets. A comparison of the computerized and the non-computerized methods of preparing discharge summaries showed that, using the computer, the discharge report was ready an average of 3.8 days after the patient was released from the hospital. Before the computerized system was installed, the process took an average of 20.9 days from discharge to printed discharge summary.

Hospitals, Information services, Medical records, Information storage and retrieval systems, Hospital administration, Hospital information systems

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