Home Print this page Email this page Small font sizeDefault font sizeIncrease font size
Users Online: 194

 

Home About us Editorial board Search Ahead of print Current issue Archives Submit article Instructions Subscribe Advertise Contacts Login 
     
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Year : 2013  |  Volume : 54  |  Issue : 6  |  Page : 408-410

Routine haemoglobin electrophoresis screening in day case herniotomy in Nigerian children: Is it evidence-based?


1 Department of Surgery, Paediatric Surgery Unit, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
2 Department of Anaesthesia, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
3 Department of Paediatrics, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria

Correspondence Address:
Adesoji O Ademuyiwa
Paediatric Surgery Unit, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Idi Araba, Lagos, PMB - 12003, Idi Araba, Lagos
Nigeria
Login to access the Email id

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/0300-1652.126297

Rights and Permissions

Background: To determine the prevalence of haemoglobinopathies in children who require day case herniotomy in our centre and ascertain if routine screening is necessary in all patients who require herniotomy. Materials and Methods: A 12-month retrospective analysis of patients requiring herniotomy in our centre. Data including age, sex, diagnosis, haemoglobin electrophoresis status, surgical outcome and hospital stay were analysed. Results: Ninety-five patients had complete records. There were 84 boys and 11 girls. M:F ratio: 7.6:1. The mean age was 3.2 ΁ 0.6 years. Fifty-five point eight per cent of the patients had right inguinal hernias while 35.8% had left inguinal hernias. Eight patients (8.4%) had bilateral inguinal hernias. Twenty-six patients (27.4%) had haemoglobinopathies while 69 patients (72.6%) had homozygous Haemoglobin A. The Sickle Cell trait (HbAS) was found in 22 patients (23.2%) while the HbAC was found in three patients (3.2%). One patient (1.1%) had Sickle Cell disease (Haemoglobin SS). He had had blood transfusion and previous history of jaundice. All patients survived and all patients were discharged on the day of surgery (mean hospital stay: 4hrs (range: 2.5 hrs-12 hrs)) except the patient with Sickle Cell disease who was admitted a day before surgery and discharged a day after the operation. Conclusion: One in four children coming for day case herniotomy in our centre had the Sickle Cell trait while only 1% had the Sickle Cell disease. These findings are in keeping with the prevalence in the Nigerian population. Routine screening may not be necessary for all patients coming for herniotomy in our centre. Clear indication(s) should be outlined for screening.


[FULL TEXT] [PDF]*
Print this article     Email this article
 Next article
 Previous article
 Table of Contents

 Similar in PUBMED
   Search Pubmed for
   Search in Google Scholar for
 Related articles
 Citation Manager
 Access Statistics
 Reader Comments
 Email Alert *
 Add to My List *
 * Requires registration (Free)
 

 Article Access Statistics
    Viewed3917    
    Printed68    
    Emailed1    
    PDF Downloaded96    
    Comments [Add]    

Recommend this journal