Objective: In this study we aimed to define clinical, radiologic and pathological specialties of patients who applied to General Surgery Department of Atatürk University Medical Faculty with granulomatous mastitis and show medical and surgical treatment results. With the help of this study we will be able to make our own clinical algorithm for diagnosis and treatment. Materials and Methods: We searched retrospectively addresses, phone numbers and clinical files of 93 patients whom diagnosed granulomatous mastitis between a decade of January 2001 – December 2010. We noted demographic specialties, ages, gender, medical family history, main complaints, physical findings, radiological and laboratory findings, medical treatments, postoperative complications and surgical procedures if they were operated; morbidity, recurrence and success ratios, complications after treatment for patients discussed above. Results: In this study we evaluated 93 patients, 91 females and 2 males, with granulomatous mastitis retrospectively who applied to General Surgery Department of Atatürk University Medical Faculty between January 2001 and December 2010. Mean age was 34.4 years. The diagnosis was confirmed by histopathologic examination of the lesions. Seventy three patients had idiopathic granulomatous lobular mastitis and 20 patients had specific granulomatous mastitis IGM (18 tuberculosis mastitis, 1 alveolar echinococcosis and 1 silk reaction). All the patients had surgical debridement or antibiotic, and anti-inflammatory treatment with results bad clinical response before applied our clinic. Conclusion: Empiric antibiotic therapy and drainage of the breast lesions are not enough for complete remission of idiopathic granulomatous mastitis. The lesion must be excised completely. In selected patients, corticosteroid therapy can be useful. In the patients with tuberculous mastitis, abscess drainage and antituberculous therapy can be useful, but wide excision must be chosen for the patients with recurrent disease.

Objectives: Recurrence is a relatively common outcome following endoscopic decompression in sigmoid volvulus (SV). This study aims to evaluate the factors affecting recurrence in SV. Methods: In 434 patients with SV treated between June 1986 and January 2022, probable recurrence-affecting factors including age, age of SV onset, gender, dietary habit, defecation habit, altitude of living area, and SV attack count were analyzed in prospectively collected data. Results: Of 434 patients, 111 (25.6%) had recurrent SV with mean 1.6 ± 2.3 of volvulus episodes (range: 1-21 attacks). SV recurrence demonstrated a significant linear increase with age (14.3%, 17.1%, 21.5%, and 29.9%, respectively, in young, middle aged, mature, and elderly patients, p < 0.001). Recurrent SV was also significantly higher in male gender (28.5% vs 12.7%, p = 0.004), high-fiber diet habit (32.9% vs 17.7%, p < 0.001), and living at high altitude (26.9% vs 12.5%, p = 0.047). Although SV recurrence was higher in patients with chronic constipation, the difference was not significant (36.7% vs. 20.3%, p = 0.594). When compared with that of the patients with mature onset or elderly onset patients, SV attack count was significantly higher in young-onset cases (1.3±0.9 and 1.1±0.3 vs 4.6±6.9, p < 0.001).Conclusion: Elderliness, early-onset, maleness, high-fiber diet habit, high altitude, and most likely chronic constipation may be the practical clinical parameters of recurrent SV. These parameters, as well as the presence of previous SV episode history, must be considered in the decision-making process in the elective treatment of SV. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.39.1.6882 How to cite this: Korkut E, Peksoz R, Disci E, Atamanalp SS. Factors affecting recurrence in sigmoid volvulus. Pak J Med Sci. 2023;39(1):150-153. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.39.1.6882 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Background: Sigmoid volvulus may recur following endoscopic decompression. Flatus tubes are traditionally used to prevent an early recurrence. This study aims to evaluate the recurrence–preventive role of the flatus tubes in sigmoid volvulus. Methods: Sigmoid volvulus recurrence was retrospectively analyzed in prospectively collected clinical data of endoscopically decompressed 60 patients, in whom no tube, rectal tube, or sigmoidal tube was used. Results: Mean pain/discomfort scores were higher in rectal and sigmoidal tube groups than that of no tube group (1.2 ± 0.4, 4.2 ± 0.9, and 3.5 ± 0.9, respectively, P < .001). The early recurrence was seen in 3 patients in the no tube group, while no early recurrence was determined during tube placement in the rectal and sigmoidal tube groups (15.0%, 0.0%, and 0.0%, respectively, P < .05, P < .05, and P > .05). The tubes were removed or spontaneously discharged in 13 (65.0%) and 12 patients (60.0%) in the rectal and sigmoidal tube groups, respectively, and sigmoid volvulus recurred in 2 patients in each group following the removal or spontaneous discharge. There was no statistically significant difference between the early recurrence rates of the no tube, rectal tube, and sigmoidal tube groups following the removal or spontaneous discharge of the tubes (15.0%, 15.4%, 16.7%, respectively, P > .05) and in total (15.0%, 10.0%, and 10.0%, respectively, P > .05). Conclusion: Flatus tubes may prevent the early volvulus recurrence during their placement in sigmoid volvulus. Nevertheless, they generally cause pain and discomfort, and they are frequently removed or spontaneously discharged, which suppresses their recurrence– preventive effects. Cite this article as: Atamanalp SS, Dişçi E, Peksöz R, et al. Recurrence–preventive role of flatus tubes following endoscopic decompression in sigmoid volvulus. Turk J Gastroenterol. 2023;34(4):371-377.

Objective: Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is rarely encountered in the spleen, even in areas where the disease is endemic. There is no consensus in the literature concerning the treatment of splenic cystic echinococcosis. This study was intended to compare the treatment results and factors affecting the selection of the spleen- preserving approach or splenectomy in treatment. Materials and Methods: Four hundred and seventy patients operated for cystic echinococcosis at a university clinic between January 2010 and December 2019 were retrospectively evaluated. Splenic cystic echinococ- cosis was identified in 22 patients (4.7%). Demographic features as well as clinical and laboratory findings of patients who underwent splenectomy or spleen-preserving operations were compared between the groups. Results: Spleen-preserving cystotomy was performed on 18 patients (81.8%), and splenectomy on 4 (18.2%). Eleven patients (50%) had isolated cystic echinococcosis in the spleen, while another 11 (50%) had hepatic and splenic cystic echinococcosis. The median cyst size was 10.0 cm (min: 3, max: 20). Splenectomy patients had significantly larger cyst sizes (median, min-max; 8.0 cm, 3-15 cm vs. 15.0 cm, 10-20) (Z=2.071, P=.042). Postoperatively, 1 patient from the splenectomy group (25.0%) developed deep vein thrombosis, and another from the cystotomy group (5.5%) developed pulmonary embolism. No other serious complications, re-operation requirements, or recurrence were observed after a median follow-up period of 27.0 months (min: 5, max: 92). Conclusion: Since no collections or recurrence were observed, and splenic functions were preserved in patients who underwent spleen-preserving cystotomy, we recommend the use of spleen-protective cys- totomy. Splenectomy should be employed in patients with cyst diameters exceeding 10 cm, with a central location, and in cases with difficult cavity management and a high risk of developing postoperative collections. Cite this article as: Korkut E, Aksungur N, Öztürk G. A retrospective evaluation of spleen hydatid cyst treatments: The spleen-preserving conservative approach is preferable to splenectomy. Eurasian J Med. 2022;54(2):133-137.