Preoperative Vascular Imaging in Lower Extremity Free Flap Reconstruction: Comparison Between Imaging Modalities.

BACKGROUND: Adequate vascular anatomy and perfusion status are essential for successful lower extremity free tissue transfer. Computed tomography angiography (CTA) is widely available, minimally invasive, and enables visualization of soft tissues and bones. Angiography permits temporal evaluation of flow, identifies potential needs for concurrent endovascular interventions, and enhances visibility in the setting of hardware. Despite widespread availability of these imaging modalities, no standardized algorithm for preoperative imaging prior to lower extremity free flap reconstruction exists. METHODS: Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes identified patients undergoing free flap reconstruction of the lower extremity over an 18-year period (2002-2020). Electronic medical records were reviewed for patient, treatment, and imaging characteristics, and pre- and post-imaging laboratory values. Outcomes included imaging findings and related complications and surgical outcomes. RESULTS: In total, 405 patients were identified, with 59% (n = 238) undergoing preoperative imaging with angiography, 10% (n = 42) with CTA, 7.2% (n = 29) with both imaging modalities, and 24% (n = 96) with neither performed. Forty percent (122 of 309) of patients who underwent preoperative imaging had less than 3-vessel runoff. Four patients developed contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) after angiography only and one after having both CTA and angiography. Vessel runoff on CTA and angiography demonstrated moderate correlation. CONCLUSION: Most patients undergoing lower extremity free tissue transfer underwent preoperative imaging with angiography and/or CTA, 40% of which had less than 3-vessel runoff. Both angiography and CTA had low complication rates, with no statistically significant risk factors identified. Specifically, the incidence of CIN was not found to be significant using either modality. We discuss our institutional algorithm to aid in decision-making for preoperative imaging prior to lower extremity free flap reconstruction. Specifically, we recommend angiography for patients with peripheral vascular disease, internal hardware, or distal defects secondary to trauma.

Early Post-operative Pain Course Following Primary and Secondary Targeted Muscle Reinnervation - a Temporal Description of Pain Outcomes.

INTRODUCTION: Targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) is an effective surgical treatment of neuropathic pain for amputees. However, limited data exists regarding the early post-operative pain course for patients who undergo either Primary (<14 days since amputation) or Secondary (≥14 days) TMR. This study aims to outline the post-operative pain course for Primary and Secondary TMR during the first six post-operative months, to aid in patient education and expectation management. METHODS: Patients were eligible if they underwent TMR surgery between 2017 and 2023. Prospectively collected patient-reported outcome measures of pain scores, Pain Interference, and Pain Intensity were analyzed. Multilevel mixed-effect models were utilized to visualize and compare pain courses between Primary and Secondary TMR patients. RESULTS: A total of 203 amputees were included, with 40.9% being Primary and 59.1% being Secondary TMR patients. Primary TMR patients reported significantly lower pain scores over the full 6-month post-operative trajectory (p<0.001) compared to Secondary TMR patients, with a difference of Δ-1.0 at day of TMR (Primary=4.5, Secondary=5.5), and a difference of Δ-1.4 at the 6-month mark (Primary=3.6, Secondary=5.0). Primary TMR patients also reported significantly lower Pain Interference (p<0.001) and Pain Intensity scores (p<0.001) over the complete trajectory of their care. CONCLUSION: Primary TMR patients report lower pain during the first six months post-operatively compared to secondary TMR patients. This may reflect how pre-existing neuropathic pain is more challenging to mitigate through peripheral nerve surgery. The current trends may assist in both understanding the post-operative pain course and in managing patient expectations following TMR.

Psychosocial and functional impact of successful digital replantation - A cohort study of 36 patients with a median follow-up of 6 years.

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to evaluate the long-term psychosocial and functional outcomes of successful digital replantation following traumatic amputation. METHODS: Patients that underwent successful replantation (i.e. no secondary amputation following replantation) of one or more traumatically amputated digits between January 2009 and April 2019 were invited to participate in this study. In addition to a custom questionnaire on psychosocial and socioeconomic aspects of life, various Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) questionnaires regarding global health, upper extremity function, and depressive symptoms were completed. Bivariate analyses were performed to identify significant associations between outcomes and explanatory variables. RESULTS: Thirty-six patients were successfully enrolled and completed the questionnaires at a median follow-up of 6.1 years. The median PROMIS score for Upper Extremity Function (40.6) was considerably different from the score that is typically found in the general population (all PROMIS instruments are calibrated with a control group score of 50.0), but the median PROMIS scores for Global Health - Physical (49.0), Global Health - Mental (50.7), and Depression (45.6) were comparable to those among the general population. Dominant hand injury, a greater number of injured digits, higher age at the time of injury, and the need for neuropathic pain medication were associated with lower Upper Extremity Function scores (all p < 0.05). Additionally, the presence of neuroma was associated with negative changes in both household finances and mental well-being (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: At long-term follow-up, a majority of patients that underwent replantation of traumatically amputated digits seem to cope well based on psychosocial and functional outcomes. However, neuropathic pain and the presence of neuroma are strong negative factors. Specific attention to digital nerves at the time of surgery is crucial in the management of traumatic amputations.

Teardrop Alignment Changes After Volar Locking Plate Fixation of Distal Radius Fractures With Volar Ulnar Fragments.

BACKGROUND: We assessed factors associated with change in radiographic teardrop angle following volar locking plate (VLP) fixation of volarly displaced intra-articular distal radius fractures with volar ulnar fragments (VUF) within the ICUC database. The primary outcome was change in radiographic alignment on follow-up imaging, defined as a change in teardrop angle from intra-operative fluoroscopy greater than 5°. METHODS: Patients with distal radius fractures treated with a VLP within the ICUC database, an international collaborative and publicly available dataset, were identified. The primary outcome was volar rim loss of reduction on follow-up imaging, defined as a change in radiographic alignment from intra-operative fluoroscopy, teardrop angle less than 50°, or loss of normal radiocarpal alignment. Secondary outcomes were final range of motion (ROM) of the affected extremity. Radiographic Soong classification was used to grade plate position. Descriptive statistics were used to assess variables' distributions. A Random Forest supervised machine learning algorithm was used to classify variable importance for predicting the primary outcome. Traditional descriptive statistics were used to compare patient, fracture, and treatment characteristics with volar rim loss of reduction. Volar rim loss of reduction and final ROM in degrees and as compared with contralateral unaffected limb were also assessed. RESULTS: Fifty patients with volarly displaced, intra-articular distal radius fractures treated with a VLP were identified. Six patients were observed to have a volar rim loss of reduction, but none required reoperation. Volar ulnar fragment size, Soong grade 0, and postfixation axial plate position in relation to the sigmoid notch were significantly associated (P < .05) with volar rim loss of reduction. All cases of volar rim loss of reduction occurred when VUF was 10.8 mm or less. CONCLUSIONS: The size of the VUF was the most important variable for predicting volar rim loss of reduction followed by postfixation plate position in an axial position to the sigmoid notch and the number of volar fragments in the Random Forest machine learning algorithm. There were no significant differences in ROM between patients with volar ulnar escape and those without.

Biology and pathophysiology of symptomatic neuromas.

ABSTRACT: Neuromas are a substantial cause of morbidity and reduction in quality of life. This is not only caused by a disruption in motor and sensory function from the underlying nerve injury but also by the debilitating effects of neuropathic pain resulting from symptomatic neuromas. A wide range of surgical and therapeutic modalities have been introduced to mitigate this pain. Nevertheless, no single treatment option has been successful in completely resolving the associated constellation of symptoms. While certain novel surgical techniques have shown promising results in reducing neuroma-derived and phantom limb pain, their effectiveness and the exact mechanism behind their pain-relieving capacities have not yet been defined. Furthermore, surgery has inherent risks, may not be suitable for many patients, and may yet still fail to relieve pain. Therefore, there remains a great clinical need for additional therapeutic modalities to further improve treatment for patients with devastating injuries that lead to symptomatic neuromas. However, the molecular mechanisms and genetic contributions behind the regulatory programs that drive neuroma formation-as well as the resulting neuropathic pain-remain incompletely understood. Here, we review the histopathological features of symptomatic neuromas, our current understanding of the mechanisms that favor neuroma formation, and the putative contributory signals and regulatory programs that facilitate somatic pain, including neurotrophic factors, neuroinflammatory peptides, cytokines, along with transient receptor potential, and ionotropic channels that suggest possible approaches and innovations to identify novel clinical therapeutics.

Soong Classification Using Radiographs Only Moderately Correlates With Distal Radius Plate Position on Computed Tomography.

BACKGROUND: The Soong classification grades the prominence of volar locking plates used to treat distal radius fractures in relation to the volar rim. The basis of the classification scheme is that increasing plate prominence over the volar rim and distal radius watershed zone is associated with increased likelihood of flexor tendon irritation and need for plate removal. However, recent studies report mixed results on the predictive value of the Soong classification for these outcomes. We hypothesized that the decreased predictive accuracy of Soong classification is due to misclassification between Soong grades secondary to a suboptimal correlation between the Soong classification on radiographs (XRs) and computed tomography (CT). METHODS: Fifty volarly displaced distal radius fractures treated with a volar locking plate in the international and publicly available ICUC database were reviewed. All cases with a postoperative XR and CT were included. Soong classification of the volar locking plate in relation to the volar ulnar rim was determined on both XR and CT by 2 independent, fellowship-trained hand surgeons using CT imaging as the gold standard. The distribution of Soong grades on XR and CT was compared using Pearson's χ2 test, and correlation was calculated using the Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC). A multi-class confusion matrix was used to calculate each grade's positive predictive value (PPV). RESULTS: We found an MCC of 0.65, indicating only moderate correlation between the 2 modalities. Per individual Soong grade, the PPV was the highest for grade 2 (0.96), with lower PPVs for grade 0 (0.63) and grade 1 (0.60). CONCLUSIONS: The distribution of Soong grades was significantly different when using XR versus CT (P < .001). LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, diagnostic, level 2b.

Salvage of a Fractured Proximal Ulnar Osteoarticular Allograft Using a Medial Femoral Condyle Free Flap: A Case Report.

CASE: We present the case of a 47-year-old paraplegic woman who underwent resection of an intermediate-grade chondrosarcoma in the proximal ulna, which was initially reconstructed with an osteoarticular allograft. However, after more than 25 years without complications, she sustained an intra-articular fracture of the allograft, which was then successfully treated using a vascularized medial femoral condyle (MFC) flap and anterolateral thigh flap. The patient has subsequently recovered her baseline elbow function, has no pain, and can use her wheelchair without restrictions. CONCLUSION: Free MFC flaps are viable options to salvage osteoarticular allografts that are affected by intra-articular fractures.

Prolonged Opioid Use following Hand Surgery: A Systematic Review and Proposed Criteria.

Prolonged opioid use after surgery has been a contributing factor to the ongoing opioid epidemic. The purpose of this systematic review is to analyze the definitions of prolonged opioid use in prior literature and propose appropriate criteria to define postoperative prolonged opioid use in hand surgery. Methods: Using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines 130 studies were included for review. The primary outcome was the timepoint used to define prolonged opioid use following surgery. The proportion of patients with prolonged use and risk factors for prolonged use were also collected for each study. Included studies were categorized based on their surgical specialty. Results: The most common timepoint used to define prolonged opioid use was 3 months (n = 86, 67.2% of eligible definitions), ranging from 1 to 24 months. Although 11 of 12 specialties had a mean timepoint between 2.5 and 4.17 months, Spine surgery was the only outlier with a mean of 6.90 months. No correlation was found between the definition's timepoint and the rates of prolonged opioid use. Conclusions: Although a vast majority of the literature reports similar timepoints to define prolonged postoperative opioid use, these studies often do not account for the type of procedures being performed. We propose that the definitions of postoperative prolonged opioid use should be tailored to the level and duration of pain for specific procedures. We present criteria to define prolonged opioid use in hand surgery.