African journal of medicine and medical sciences
-
This prospective study was carried out at the Children Outpatient Clinic of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Nigeria. The study aims to determine the convergent validity of the Oucher, Observer Pain Scale, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) among Nigerian children. Children aged between 6 months and 12 years who required venepuncture or phlebotomy for various investigative procedures were recruited. ⋯ The median pain score during the procedure were 4 (Observer Pain Scale), 5 (Oucher) and 4 (VAS and NRS). The average measure intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) showed that the Oucher, the VAS and the NRS pain scales are reliable pain measuring tools with an ICC of 0.63-0.69 at baseline and 0.72 - 0.73 during the procedure. The VAS, NRS and Oucher pain scales are valid pain tools that can be used to assess pain in Nigerian children.
-
This study presents a pioneer experience with laparoscopic operations in a General Surgical unit of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Consecutive patients who had laparoscopic operations from April through December 2008 were prospectively studied. Following clinical diagnosis, initial diagnostic laparoscopy was undertaken in all patients, followed by therapeutic open or laparoscopic procedures. ⋯ Operative time ranged from 55-105 minutes with marked reduction in operation time as confidence and experience grew. No intraoperative complication was observed but one patient had superficial port site infection postoperatively. We conclude that with good patient selection and some improvisation, laparoscopic general surgical operations are feasible with acceptable outcome even in a poor resource setting.