Surgical ultrasound-guided carpal tunnel release.

Ultrasound-guided surgery is a new trend stemming from the introduction of high-frequency linear probes and better quality screens. Surgical treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome is increasingly being performed under ultrasound guidance. Knowledge of musculoskeletal ultrasonography is obviously mandatory. Several types of cutting instruments (miniature knife, Gigli saw or hook) and surgical approaches (wrist or palm) have been described. Ultrasonography allows the wide-awake and local anesthesia with no tourniquet (WALANT) technique to be used in the context of ambulatory patient care. The practitioner must be aware of all the possible intraoperative and postoperative complications, and be able to treat them. The aim of this review is to analyze the literature on the feasibility and outcomes of surgical ultrasound-guided carpal tunnel release, and to compare it to the other validated techniques.

Wide-awake ultrasound-guided percutaneous extensor central slip tenotomy for chronic mallet finger: A prospective study of 14 cases (with videos).

The central slip tenotomy described by Fowler is an effective option for treating chronic mallet finger in order to avoid swan neck deformity of the finger. In a prospective study of 14 cases (13 failures of conservative treatment and one case of untreated mallet finger), we performed percutaneous ultrasound-guided central slip tenotomy with a 19 G needle using the wide-awake local anesthesia and no tourniquet (WALANT) technique. The mean extensor lag before surgery was 28° (range 20°-40°) and three patients had a swan neck deformity. The anesthesia and tenotomy were guided with a 15MHz high frequency probe. Patient were asked to grade their pain between 0 (no pain) and 10 (extreme pain) with a Visual Analog Scale (VAS), to flex and extend their finger immediately after the tenotomy and to be reviewed at 1month's follow-up. The mean pain score on VAS during the procedure was 1/10 (range 0-3). After several movements of the finger after the procedure, two patients immediately regained full extension of the distal interphalangeal joint. At 1month follow-up, the correction was complete for 10 patients, three patients had a residual deformity of 10° and one had a poor result with a 30° deformity. Two patients had a persistent painless synovitis of the proximal interphalangeal joint. Thirteen patients were fully satisfied and one was a disappointed, but did not want another treatment. There are no published reports of percutaneous central slip tenotomy. In this preliminary report, central slip tenotomy for chronic mallet finger with ultrasonography was painless, effective and safe under WALANT technique. Larger clinical studies are needed to confirm the outcomes of this study.

Kienböck's disease and cerebral palsy case report.

INTRODUCTION: Pain is the main problem in patients suffering from cerebral palsy, particularly in adults. The upper limbs are affected in 25% of cases. Here, we report the case of a patient with Kienböck's disease. METHOD: Clinical case and literature review. A 28-year-old man suffering from dystonic quadriplegia consulted for progressively worsening pain in the right wrist. Kienböck's disease was diagnosed and conservative treatment with botulinum toxin in the flexor carpi radialis recommended. A good result was obtained with a decrease in pain. This result was still present two years later. DISCUSSION: Although few references are made to it in literature, Kienböck's disease in cerebral palsy is probably underestimated. Maintenance of the wrist in a permanent flexed position and muscular hypertonia may be risk factors. Knowledge of this particular clinical picture will enable it to be detected promptly and thus enable conservative treatment to be organised with a maximum chance of therapeutic success, preventing the need for surgery.

The uses of computer-assisted surgical navigation in trans-nasal pituitary gland surgery.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the use of computer-assisted surgery in transnasal pituitary gland surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty cases of transnasal pituitary gland surgery using a computer-assisted navigation system, carried out between 2002 and 2004, were retrospectively studied. The subjects consisted of 7 men and 13 women aged between 27 and 77 years of ages. The pituitary tumours included 18 macroadenomas, a microadenoma and a craniopharyngioma. Ten of the cases presented with visual field and/or visual acuity disturbances. Seven of the cases presented with endocrine disorders. A computed tomography scanner destined for navigation purposes was carried out 24 hours before the operation. The computer-assisted system used was the Digipointeur (Collin ORL) based on a system of spatial localization in electromagnetic fields. RESULTS: Tumour removal was complete in 50% of cases and partial, as judged by MRI 3 months after the procedure, in 45% of the cases. In 40% of cases, the preoperative visual disturbances had completely disappeared at 3 months. A considerable clinical improvement was observed in all of the other cases. Peroperative complications were limited to two breaches of the meninges and one peroperative hemorrhage during the excision of a macroadenoma invading the cavernous sinus, necessitating the suspension of the operation. CONCLUSION: In our experience, the use of a computer-assisted system in transseptal pituitary surgery gives reliable millimetric surgical precision in the localization of vital internal anatomical structures, optimizes surgical resection and increases levels of safety.

[Use of a bilobed flap for the treatment of mucous cysts]. / Utilisation d'un lambeau bilobé pour le traitement des kystes mucoïdes juxta-unguéaux.

INTRODUCTION: In the case of mucous cysts with attenuated skin, the authors suggest radical excision of the cyst together with the overlying skin. The skin defect is repaired with a bilobed flap whose donor site is left to heal by secondary intention. This surgical procedure also allows exploration of other areas of mucoid degeneration and repair of the proximal nail fold when necessary. METHOD: Twenty-six patients with an average age of 59 years (27 cysts), were operated with this procedure. Nail bed deformities were present in 55% of the cases. The cyst and the overlying skin were radically excised in conjunction with a dorsal capsulectomy; the use of the bilobed flap made the dissection easier, and flap translation allowed cover of the capsulectomy area and simultaneous repair of the nail fold in eight cases. RESULTS: Patients were reviewed with an average follow-up of 13.7 months. Seventy percent of the patients had no pain, and in 85% of the cases there was no loss of motion. Cosmetic appearance was satisfactory, and nail bed deformities disappeared or clearly subsided in 86% of the cases. One patient developed recurrence. DISCUSSION: Many surgical procedures have been described for mucous cysts treatment. This simple procedure allows radical excision of the cyst and the attenuated skin with low risk for the germinal matrix, precise location of cyst origin, repair of the nail fold and good skin cover in the capsulectomy area.