Answer: Mittelschmerz

Mittelschmerz is midcycle abdominal pain due to leakage of prostaglandin-containing follicular fluid at the time of ovulation. It is self-limited, and a theoretical concern is treatment of pain with prostaglandin synthetase inhibitors, which could prevent ovulation. The pain of mittelschmerz usually occurs in the lower abdomen and pelvis, either in the middle or to one side. The pain can range from a mild twinge to severe discomfort and usually lasts from minutes to hours. In some cases, a small amount of vaginal bleeding or discharge might occur. Some women have nausea, especially if the pain is very strong.
Diagnosis of pelvic pain in women can be challenging because many symptoms and signs are insensitive and nonspecific. As the first priority, urgent life-threatening conditions (e.g., ectopic pregnancy, appendicitis, ruptured ovarian cyst) and fertility-threatening conditions (e.g., pelvic inflammatory disease, ovarian torsion) must be considered.
Many women never have pain at ovulation. Some women, however, have mid-cycle pain every month, and can tell by the pain that they are ovulating.
As an egg develops in the ovary, it is surrounded by follicular fluid. During ovulation, the egg and the fluid, as well as some blood, are released from the ovary. While the exact cause of mittelschmerz is not known, it is believed to be caused by the normal enlargement of the egg in the ovary just before ovulation. Also, the pain could be caused by the normal bleeding that comes with ovulation.
Pelvic inflammatory disease can be ruled out if the patient is not sexually active.

In patients with suspected gallstone complications, blood tests should include a complete blood cell (CBC) count with differential, liver function panel, and amylase and lipase. Up to 24% of women and 12% of men may have gallstones. Of these up to 30% may develop local infection and cholecystitis.

Acute cholecystitis is associated with polymorphonuclear leucocytosis. However, up to one third of the patients with cholecystitis may not manifest leucocytosis. In severe cases, mild elevations of liver enzymes may be caused by inflammatory injury of the adjacent liver.

Patients with cholangitis and pancreatitis have abnormal laboratory test values. Importantly, a single abnormal laboratory value does not confirm the diagnosis of choledocholithiasis, cholangitis, or pancreatitis; rather, a coherent set of laboratory studies leads to the correct diagnosis.

Choledocholithiasis with acute common bile duct (CBD) obstruction initially produces an acute increase in the level of liver transaminases (alanine and aspartate aminotransferases), followed within hours by a rising serum bilirubin level. The higher the bilirubin level, the greater the predictive value for CBD obstruction. CBD stones are present in approximately 60% of patients with serum bilirubin levels greater than 3 mg/dL.

If obstruction persists, a progressive decline in the level of transaminases with rising alkaline phosphatase and bilirubin levels may be noted over several days. Prothrombin time may be elevated in patients with prolonged CBD obstruction, secondary to depletion of vitamin K (the absorption of which is bile-dependent). Concurrent obstruction of the pancreatic duct by a stone in the ampulla of Vater may be accompanied by increases in serum lipase and amylase levels.

Repeated testing over hours to days may be useful in evaluating patients with gallstone complications. Improvement of the levels of bilirubin and liver enzymes may indicate spontaneous passage of an obstructing stone. Conversely, rising levels of bilirubin and transaminases with progression of leucocytosis in the face of antibiotic therapy may indicate ascending cholangitis with the need for urgent intervention. Blood culture results are positive in 30%-60% of patients with cholangitis.

Achalasia is a rare neurological deficit of the oesophagus that produces an impaired relaxation of the lower oesophageal sphincter and decreased motility of the oesophageal body. Achalasia is generally accepted to be a pre-malignant disorder, since, particularly in the mega-oesophagus, chronic irritation by foods and bacterial overgrowth may contribute to the development of dysplasia and carcinoma.
When oesophageal cancer develops in patients with underlying achalasia, diagnosis tends to be in the more advanced stages of cancer, compared to cases with no achalasia, because both physicians and patients often regard symptoms such as dysphagia and chest discomfort as attributable to the achalasia, rather than to other causes. Therefore, additional approaches that would lead to earlier diagnosis might be pursued less aggressively.
Achalasia is a predisposing factor for oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

The patient mostly has an appendicular mass.
At present, the treatment of choice for uncomplicated acute appendicitis in adults continues to be surgical. The inflammation in acute appendicitis may sometimes be enclosed by the patient’s own defence mechanisms, by the formation of an inflammatory phlegmon or a circumscribed abscess. The management of these patients is controversial. An immediate appendectomy may be technically demanding. The exploration often ends up in an ileocecal resection or a right-sided hemicolectomy. Recently, the conditions for conservative management of these patients have changed due to the development of computed tomography and ultrasound, which has improved the diagnosis of enclosed inflammation and made drainage of intra-abdominal abscesses easier. New efficient antibiotics have also given new opportunities for nonsurgical treatment of complicated appendicitis. The traditional management of these patients is nonsurgical treatment followed by interval appendectomy to prevent a recurrence. The need for interval appendectomy after successful nonsurgical treatment has recently been questioned because the risk of recurrence is relatively small.
In patients with suspicion of contained appendiceal inflammation, based on a palpable mass or long duration of symptoms, the diagnosis should be confirmed by imaging techniques, especially CT scan. The patient should receive primary nonsurgical treatment with antibiotics and abscess drainage as needed. After successful nonsurgical treatment, no interval appendectomy is indicated in some cases, but the patient should be informed about the risk of recurrence especially in the presence of appendicolith. The risk of missing another underlying condition (cancer or CD) is low, but motivates a follow-up with a colon examination and/or a CT scan or US, especially in patients above the age of 40 years.

Answer: Bochdalek hernia

A Bochdalek hernia is one of two forms of a congenital diaphragmatic hernia, the other form being Morgagni hernia. A Bochdalek hernia is a congenital abnormality in which an opening exists in the infant’s diaphragm, allowing normally intra-abdominal organs (particularly the stomach and intestines) to protrude into the thoracic cavity. In the majority of patients, the affected lung will be deformed, and the resulting lung compression can be life-threatening. Bochdalek hernias occur more commonly on the posterior left side (85%, versus right side 15%).

In normal Bochdalek hernia cases, the symptoms are often observable simultaneously with the baby’s birth. A few of the symptoms of a Bochdalek Hernia include difficulty breathing, fast respiration and increased heart rate. Also, if the baby appears to have cyanosis (blue-tinted skin) this can also be a sign. Another way to differentiate a healthy baby from a baby with Bochdalek Hernia, is to look at the chest immediately after birth. If the baby has a Bochdalek Hernia it may appear that one side of the chest cavity is larger than the other and or the abdomen seems to be scaphoid (caved in).

Situs inversus (also called situs transversus or oppositus) is a congenital condition in which the major visceral organs are reversed or mirrored from their normal positions. The normal arrangement of internal organs is known as situs solitus while situs inversus is generally the mirror image of situs solitus. Although cardiac problems are more common than in the general population, most people with situs inversus have no medical symptoms or complications resulting from the condition, and until the advent of modern medicine it was usually undiagnosed. In the absence of congenital heart defects, individuals with situs inversus are homeostatically normal, and can live standard healthy lives, without any complications related to their medical condition. There is a 5–10% prevalence of congenital heart disease in individuals with situs inversus totalis, most commonly transposition of the great vessels. The incidence of congenital heart disease is 95% in situs inversus with levocardia.

Cystic fibrosis is a progressive, genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and limits the ability to breathe over time. In people with CF, mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene cause the CFTR protein to become dysfunctional. When the protein is not working correctly, it’s unable to help move chloride — a component of salt — to the cell surface. Without the chloride to attract water to the cell surface, the mucus in various organs becomes thick and sticky. In the lungs, the mucus clogs the airways and traps germs, like bacteria, leading to infections, inflammation, respiratory failure, and other complications.

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a medical condition where a portion of the bowel dies. It typically occurs in new-borns that are either premature or otherwise unwell. Symptoms may include poor feeding, bloating, decreased activity, blood in the stool, or vomiting of bile.
The exact cause is unclear. Risk factors include congenital heart disease, birth asphyxia, exchange transfusion, and premature rupture of membranes. The underlying mechanism is believed to involve a combination of poor blood flow and infection of the intestines. Diagnosis is based on symptoms and confirmed with medical imaging.

Morgagni hernias are one of the congenital diaphragmatic hernias (CDH), and is characterized by herniation through the foramen of Morgagni. When compared to Bochdalek hernias, Morgagni hernias are:
-anterior
-more often right-sided (,90%)
-small
-rare (,2% of CDH)
-at low risk of prolapse

Only ,30% of patients are symptomatic. New-borns may present with respiratory distress at birth similar to a Bochdalek hernia. Additionally, recurrent chest infections and gastrointestinal symptoms have been reported in those with previously undiagnosed Morgagni hernia.
The image of the transverse colon is herniated into the thoracic cavity, through a mid line defect and this indicates that it is a Morgagni hernia since the foramen of a Morgagni hernia occurs in the anterior midline through the sternocostal hiatus of the diaphragm, with 90% of cases occurring on the right side.

Clinical manifestations of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) include the following:

Early diagnosis – Right-side heart; decreased breath sounds on the affected side; scaphoid abdomen; bowel sounds in the thorax, respiratory distress, and/or cyanosis on auscultation; CDH can often be diagnosed in utero with ultrasonography (US), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or both
Late diagnosis – Chest mass on chest radiography, gastric volvulus, splenic volvulus, or large-bowel obstruction
Congenital hernias (neonatal onset) – Respiratory distress and/or cyanosis occurs within the first 24 hours of life; CDH may not be diagnosed for several years if the defect is small enough that it does not cause significant pulmonary dysfunction
Congenital hernias (childhood or adult onset) – Obstructive symptoms from protrusion of the colon, chest pain, tightness or fullness the in chest, sepsis following strangulation or perforation, and many respiratory symptoms occur.

A CT scan with IV contrast is needed because a scan without contrast will exclude a perforated viscus but will not be able to determine the presence of pancreatitis.

Acute pancreatitis may be mild or life-threatening but it usually subsides. Gallstones and alcohol abuse are the main causes of acute pancreatitis. Severe abdominal pain is the predominant symptom.

For diagnosis of acute pancreatitis, serum lipase is both more sensitive and specific than serum amylase.
Serum amylase levels do not correlate with disease severity and may give both false positive and negative results. Three scoring systems are used to assess the severity of the disease, which are Glasgow pancreatitis score, Ranson criteria, and APACHE II scoring system.

Management options are as follows:
1. There is very little evidence to support the administration of antibiotics to patients with acute pancreatitis. These may contribute to antibiotic resistance and increase the risks of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea.
2. Patients with acute pancreatitis due to gallstones should undergo early cholecystectomy.
3. Patients with obstructed biliary system due to stones should undergo early ERCP.
4. Patients with infected necrosis should undergo either radiological drainage or surgical necrosectomy.

A cavernous liver haemangioma or hepatic haemangioma is a benign tumour of the liver composed of hepatic endothelial cells. It is the most common liver tumour, and is usually asymptomatic and diagnosed incidentally on radiological imaging. Liver haemangiomas are thought to be congenital in origin. Several subtypes exist, including the giant hepatic haemangioma, which can cause significant complications. This large, atypical haemangioma of the liver may present with abdominal pain or fullness due to haemorrhage, thrombosis or mass effect. It may also lead to left ventricular volume overload and heart failure due to the increase in cardiac output which it causes. Further complications are Kasabach-Merritt syndrome, a form of consumptive coagulopathy due to thrombocytopaenia, and rupture.

As one of the benign neoplasms, the AFP level of hepatic cavernous haemangioma patients is not usually outside the normal range.

Answer: Undertake an open inguinal herniotomy

Inguinal hernia is a type of ventral hernia that occurs when an intra-abdominal structure, such as bowel or omentum, protrudes through a defect in the abdominal wall. Inguinal hernias do not spontaneously heal and must be surgically repaired because of the ever-present risk of incarceration. Generally, a surgical consultation should be made at the time of diagnosis, and repair (on an elective basis) should be performed very soon after the diagnosis is confirmed.

The infant or child with an inguinal hernia generally presents with an obvious bulge at the internal or external ring or within the scrotum. The parents typically provide the history of a visible swelling or bulge, commonly intermittent, in the inguinoscrotal region in boys and inguinolabial region in girls. The swelling may or may not be associated with any pain or discomfort.

Open herniotomy is its standard treatment against which all alternative modalities of treatment are evaluated. It is credited with being easy to perform, having a high success rate, and low rate of complications.
The use of prosthetic mesh in these patients is rare, however not uncalled for. Laparoscopic inguinal herniotomy is significantly associated with longer operative time for unilateral cases and a reduction in metachronous hernia development when compared to open inguinal herniotomy. There was a trend towards higher recurrence rate for laparoscopic repairs and shorter operative time for bilateral cases. A well conducted randomized controlled trial is warranted to compare both approaches.

Mirizzi’s syndrome is a rare complication in which a gallstone becomes impacted in the cystic duct or neck of the gallbladder causing compression of the common hepatic duct, resulting in obstruction and jaundice. The obstructive jaundice can be caused by direct extrinsic compression by the stone or from fibrosis caused by chronic cholecystitis (inflammation).

Type I – No fistula present

Type IA – Presence of the cystic duct
Type IB – Obliteration of the cystic duct

Types II–IV – Fistula present

Type II – Defect smaller than 33% of the CHD diameter
Type III – Defect 33–66% of the CHD diameter
Type IV – Defect larger than 66% of the CHD diameter

Simple cholecystectomy is suitable for type I patients. This patient has type I because no fistula is present.

Achalasia is an oesophageal motor disorder characterized by aperistalsis of the oesophageal body and lack of relaxation of the lower sphincter in response to swallows.
Achalasia cardia is one of the common causes of motor dysphagia. Pathophysiologically, achalasia cardia is caused by loss of inhibitory ganglion in the myenteric plexus of the oesophagus. In the initial stage, degeneration of inhibitory nerves in the oesophagus results in unopposed action of excitatory neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine, resulting in high amplitude non-peristaltic contractions (vigorous achalasia); progressive loss of cholinergic neurons over time results in dilation and low amplitude simultaneous contractions in the oesophageal body (classic achalasia).