Medicine Decoded

Signs of pneumoperitoneum U should be familiar with!

2013-05-13T12:50:00.001+05:30

Diagnosing pneumoperitoneum is a piece of cake when you see the classic sign " Air under the diaphragm".

Air under diaphragm

But this sign is present in an erect x-ray. Suppose your patient is too sick to get an erect x-ray done ( might be incubated), and instead you get a supine film done, then these are the signs you should look out for.

These include signs like:
1. Falciform ligament sign: Outline of falciform ligament = long vertical line to the right of midline extending from ligamentum teres notch to umbilicus; most common structure outlined
2. Ligamentum teres sign:  air outlining fissure of ligamentum teres hepatis
3. Morison’s pouch-doge’s cap sign :  triangular collection of gas in Morison pouch
4. Cupola sign / moustache sign: gas trapped below central tendon of diaphragm
5. Rigler’s sign : air on both sides of bowel as intraluminal gas and free air outside
6. Football sign: large pneumoperitoneum outlining entire abdominal cavity
7. Telltale triangle sign : triangular air pocket between 3 loops of bowel
8. Inverted “V” sign:  outline of both lateral umbilical ligaments

This article from the ThaiGastro journal " Pneumoperitoneum: Signs on Supine Abdominal Radiograph" provides detailed look of these signs and images.

Mnemonic for today

2013-05-05T11:38:00.000+05:30

LARP:

Relationship of the vagus nerves at the Gastroesophageal junction.

Here the left vagus is anterior, and the right vagus is posterior.

Did you wonder what these ♂ and ♀mean???

2013-05-04T11:55:00.000+05:30

As doctors we always use these symbols to represent the gender. But what do these mean?? Ever thought!!

These symbols are derived from astrological symbols, denoting the classical planets Mars and Venus, respectively.
They were first used to denote the effective gender of plants by Carolus Linnaeus in 1751.

The male symbol ♂ is the sign of Mars. He was the Roman war god, and his shield and spear form the symbol to designate the male gender.

Female symbol ♀ denotes the classical planet Venus. Female sign ♀ is believed to represent a hand mirror, with the top half of the symbol representing the actual mirror, and the bottom half representing the handle of the mirror.

Bibliography:
The Origin of the Male and Female Symbols of Biology. William T. Stearn. Taxon
Vol. 11, No. 4 (May, 1962), pp. 109-113