Muthanna Medical Journal

This literature review is intended to provide oversight on the anatomy, incidence, etiology, presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of coccydynia. Relevant articles were retrieved with PubMed using keywords such as “coccydynia”, “coccyx”, “coccyx pain”, and “coccygectomy. Literature accumulated for this study was accumulated from PubMed using sourcombined to form this study. Images were also added from three separate sources to aid in the understanding of the coccyx and coccydynia. Focal points of this study included the anatomy of the coccyx, etiology and presentation of coccydynia, how to properly diagnose coccydynia, and possible treatments for the variety of etioloces. The coccyx morphology is defined using different methods by different authors as presented in this study. There is no conclusive quantitative data on the incidence of coccydynia; however, there are important factors that lead to increased risk of coccydynia such as obesity, age, and female gender. Injury to the coccyx or coccygeal joints with surrounding tissue inflammation and contraction of the muscles attached to the coccyx causes coccydynia. Diagnosis is made predominantly in clinical examinations with static standard radiographs, CT, and routine blood tests. Treatment options include conservative care, physical therapy, intrarectal massage and manipulation, sacrococcygeal injections (including ganglion impar block), and coccygectomy. Many cases are resolved with conservative treatments, despite the wide array of etiologies for the diagnosis. In more extreme cases, physician intervention requires a multidisciplinary approach. Surgical treatment is used as a last resort.

Chronic low back and lower extremity pain is mainly caused by lumbar disc herniation (LDH) and radiculitis. Various surgery and nonsurgical modalities, including epidural injections, have been used to treat LDH or radiculitis. Caudal epidural injection of local anesthetics with or without steroids is one of the most commonly used interventions in managing chronic low back and lower extremity pain. To describe the indications, rationale, techniques, alternatives, contraindications, complications, and efficacy of lumbar and caudal epidural corticosteroid injections.
Interventions: Three reviewers with formal training and certification in evidence-based medicine searched the literature on non–image guided lumbar interlaminar epidural steroid injections. A larger team of seven reviewers independently assessed the methodology of studies found and appraised the quality of the evidence presented. A systematic literature search was performed, in the Medline Case reports and retrospective and prospective studies were extensively reviewed to provide detailed descriptions of the clinical features of lumbar and caudal epidural corticosteroid injections. Data sources included relevant literature of the English language identified through searches of PubMed and EMBASE , and manual searches of bibliographies of known primary and review articles. Epidural corticosteroid injections are commonly requested treatments for patients with various low-back or lower-extremity pain syndromes (or both). Most of the reports on the use of this type of treatment are retrospective and noncontrolled. These studies indicate benefit; however, the prospective controlled studies provide varied results about the efficacy of lumbar and caudal epidural corticosteroid injections.
In conclusions: In patients with lumbar radicular pain secondary to disc herniation or neurogenic claudication due to spinal stenosis, interlaminar epidural steroid injections appear to have clinical effectiveness limited to short-term pain relief. Therefore, in a contemporary medical practice, these procedures should be restricted to the rare settings where fluoroscopy is not available.

There has been a growing recognition regarding heavy metal toxicity owing to their position in cancer induction. The study is linked to heavy metals like titanium, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, lead, mercury, nickel and radium. A meta-analysis was compiled using PubMed to determine existing exposure channels, forms of cancers caused, and treatment interventions for the metals. It was planned to lead potential study activities linked to heavy metals and cancer.

A study was conducted on 58 patients aged from 18-63 years old, they suffering from rapid ejaculation and all their Intravaginal ejaculation latency time (IELT) were less than 2 minutes. This study done at Erectile dysfunction unit in Al-Muthana teaching hospital for a period of 1 month (March/2019). The patients were divided into 2 groups: Group 1: Patient received 30 mg of Dapoxetine 1hr before coitus and 10 mg of Tadalafil 30 min before coitus. Group 2: Patient received Dapoxetine 20 mg + Tadalafil 10 mg mixed in one tablet 1 hr before coitus. The result of our study revealed that the IELT before treatment was less than 2 minutes in both groups, after treatment the IELT increased significantly (P≤0.05) in group 1 and group 2 (337.9±3.72 and 222.4±2.88 seconds) respectively. The IELT in group 1 was increased significantly (P≤0.05) compared to IELT in group 2 after treatment. In conclusion, the administration of Dapoxetine before 1 hr. of coitus and Tadalafil 30 min. before coitus (G1) gave a good result in increasing of IELT as compared to mixture of these drugs in one tablet.

Anatomical variations (AVs) of the nose and paranasal sinuses (NPS) are quite common findings on CT scans. However, their effect on chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is still controversial. The objectives of this study is to estimate the prevalence of AVs of the NPS on CT scans and to assess the association between multiple versus single variant and CRS. A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Al-Ramadi Teaching Hospital during the period from January 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019. We reviewed the CT scans of the patients with suggestive symptoms and signs of CRS. Out of 203 CT scans, there were 153 (75.4%) scans associated with AVs of the NPS (group A). Seventy-eight with and 75 without radiological features of sinusitis. While group B (n=50 24.6%) were not detected any variants, 24 with and 26 without features of sinusitis. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (p-value>0.05). There were 11 AVs detected. The septal deviation of 63% was the commonest one. Most of the AVs of the NPS were multiple (2 or more) 99 (64.7%). Forty-nine (49.5%) of them were associated with features of sinusitis. There was a statistically significant difference (p-value <0.05) between those with multiple and those with single AVS concerning the radiological features of sinusitis. In conclusion; AVs of the sinonasal region were common findings on CT scans. A deviated nasal septum is the commonest AVs. Most of our patients contain more than 2 AVs, and they were more vulnerable to sinusitis.