Factors Affecting C5 Viability and Demographic Variability in Two Brachial Plexus Centers.

Complete brachial plexus injuries are devastating injuries. A viable C5 spinal nerve can offer additional sources of axons and alter surgical treatment. We aimed to determine factors that portend C5 nerve root avulsion. Methods: A retrospective study of 200 consecutive patients with complete brachial plexus injuries at two international centers (Mayo Clinic in the United States and Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan) was performed. Demographic information, concomitant injuries, mechanism, and details of the injury were determined, and kinetic energy (KE) and Injury Severity Score were calculated. C5 nerve root was evaluated by preoperative imaging, intraoperative exploration, and/or intraoperative neuromonitoring. A spinal nerve was considered viable if it was grafted during surgery. Results: Complete five-nerve root avulsions of the brachial plexus were present in 62% of US and 43% of Taiwanese patients, which was significantly different. Increasing age, the time from injury to surgery, weight, body mass index of patient, motor vehicle accident, KE, Injury Severity Score, and presence of vascular injury significantly increased the risk of C5 avulsion. Motorcycle (≤150cc) or bicycle accident decreased the risk of avulsion. Significant differences were found between demographic variables between the two institutions: age of injury, body mass index, time to surgery, vehicle type, speed of injury, KE, Injury Severity Score, and presence of vascular injury. Conclusions: The rate of complete avulsion injury was high in both centers. Although there are a number of demographic differences between the United States and Taiwan, overall the KE of the accident increased the risk of C5 avulsion.

Evidence-Based Strategies for the Prehabilitation of the Abdominal Wall Reconstruction Patient.

It is inherently challenging to achieve successful surgical outcomes for ventral hernia repairs. For complex ventral hernias, attempts to reconstruct the abdomen in patients who are overweight, deconditioned, malnourished, chronically infected or inflamed, have previous hernia recurrence, or otherwise carry a number of serious comorbidities affecting their surgical fitness are a major undertaking requiring careful preparation and planning. As the rate of abdominal wall reconstructions rises, so does the complexity of these procedures. One could argue that the prehabilitation of these patients is equally, if not more, important than the surgical technique itself. To achieve desirable outcomes and avoid surgical-site occurrences (SSOs), the surgeon must familiarize him/herself with ways to optimize a patient preoperatively. Understanding and identifying the aforementioned modifiable risk factors for SSOs is crucial. It is also important to recognize the impact that acute changes in the microbiome perioperatively can have on the postoperative success. Familiarizing oneself with the available literature for these patients is imperative. This review presents discussion and guidance for understanding the challenges and best practices for providing hernia surgery and abdominal wall reconstruction and achieving durable outcomes, with minimal SSOs.