Submental flap as an alternative to microsurgical flap in intraoral post-oncological reconstruction in the elderly.

Oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (Scc) occur most commonly in middle-aged and elderly individuals. Free flaps are commonly used for reconstruction of extensive tumor resection defects in the oral cavity. Age alone is not an independent variable for increased risk in microvascular reconstruction; however operative time and ASA risk score correlated with medical complications but not with surgical complications. The submental island flap has proven to be a reliable alternative in reconstruction of composite oral cavity defects for its thinness, pliability and versatility in design, shared by the radial forearm free flap, and its advantageous donor site. The submental flap can be easily raised and involves shorter operative time and hospital stay compared to the free-flap procedure. It can be an excellent choice in patients with a high ASA risk score, moreover in elderly patients, where the potential complications linked to microsurgical procedures are avoided.

Unusual bleeding of a giant cell fibroblastoma: a soft tissue sarcoma of the skin mimicking metastatic melanoma.

A 56 year-old man presented to the emergency department after a spontaneous bleeding of a giant mass located on the right axilla. Clinical diagnosis was recurrent hemorrhagic nodular melanoma. Ten months previously a malignant melanoma had been removed from the dorsum by radical excision and surgical margins had been disease-free (MM: Breslow IV, Clark IV, lung and lynphnode metastases). The patient required immediate emergency surgical intervention to prevent death by hemorrhagic shock. The tumor was bleeding and the patient required a transfusion. Subjective symptoms included pain in palpation and spontaneous hemorrhage, poor general appearance, pale skin, BP 80/40 mmHg, HR 100/min with overall symptoms of hypovolemic shock. At the time of surgery, radical tumor excision was performed with an approximately 3 cm circumferential gross tumor free margin. The resultant defect was reconstructed by pectoral rotation fascio-cutaneous flap. The histological diagnosis demonstrated an undifferentiated high-grade pleomorphic sarcoma with microscopic tumor free margins.

Episode of massive pulmonary embolism after bilateral breast augmentation.

Pulmonary embolism is a rare postsurgical complication, even more so following breast augmentation. Herein we present a case of a 23-year-old woman who survived an episode of massive pulmonary embolism after breast implant surgery. Current literature about this subject is very scarce.

A useful method to overcome the difficulties of applying silicone gel sheet on irregular surfaces.

To date, silicone gel and silicone occlusive plates are the most useful and effective treatment options for hypertrophic scars (surgical and traumatic). Use of silicone sheeting has also been demonstrated to be effective in the treatment of minor keloids in association with corticosteroid intralesional infiltration. In our practice, we encountered four problems: maceration, rashes, pruritus and infection. Not all patients are able to tolerate the cushion, especially children, and certain anatomical regions as the face and the upper chest are not easy to dress for obvious social, psychological and aesthetic reasons. In other anatomical regions, it is also difficult to obtain adequate compression and occlusion of the scar. To overcome such problems of applying silicone gel sheeting, we tested the use of liquid silicone gel (LSG) in the treatment of 18 linear hypertrophic scars (HS group) and 12 minor keloids (KS group) as an alternative to silicone gel sheeting or cushion. Objective parameters (volume, thickness and colour) and subjective symptoms such as pain and pruritus were examined. Evaluations were made when the therapy started and after 30, 90 and 180 days of follow-up. After 90 days of treatment with silicone gel alone (two applications daily), HS group showed a significant improvement in terms of volume decrease, reduced inflammation and redness and improved elasticity. In conclusion, on the basis of our clinical data, we find LSG to be a useful method to overcome the difficulties of applying silicone gel sheeting on irregular surface.