Ten surgical conditions

Abstract

This dissertation forms part of the requirement for the award of master of medicine degree in surgery. It consists of ten surgical conditions studied by the author and is divided into three parts. I must admit that it was not an easy task for me to choose the conditions to write on. In a word I wanted an original work, which will add new knowledge in our present understanding of surgery. In part one five general surgical conditions are described. Thoracic trauma which ranks high among causes of mortality is the first, followed by the empyema of the thorax, portal hypertension, cholelithiasis and goitre which are common surgical conditions. In part two, three urological conditions are included. A challenging case of Cushing's syndrome, a review of cryptorchidism and a case of true hermaphroditism. Part three includes two orthopaedic and trauma conditions. Knee injuries and supracondylar humeral fractures, which are some of the most serious orthopedic emergencies. Apart from the statistical data which reflects the size of the problem, a case report is presented for illustration and a review of relevant literature is discussed in each condition.