Application of Adjustable Skin Stretchers in Repairing Wound-Related Defects.

Objective: To explore the application value of adjustable skin stretchers for repairing skin wound defects. Methods: Twenty patients with skin defects were included in this study. The largest defect was measured to be 45.4 cm × 13.3 cm (length × width) and the smallest one was 4.4 cm × 3.2 cm (length × width). All patients were subjected to adjustable skin stretchers and the short- and long-term clinical efficacy was evaluated. Results: The wounds of all enrolled patients were healed completely except for one patient with a dorsal foot infection (the patient requested to return to the local county hospital for further treatment), with a total satisfaction of 100%. Postoperative 3-month follow-up showed scar formation, a little local hyperpigmentation, normal skin elasticity, and intact organs of involved cases, thus signifying the significant impact of adjacent joint activities. Conclusion: Adjustable skin stretchers can accurately control the tension on wound margins, breaking the limitation of previous stretchers to provide objective quantitative indicators for clinical application. These stretchers are characterized by high use-value and are worth promoting.

Multilineage differentiation of muscle-derived stem cells from GFP transgenic mice.

It is unclear whether green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression is maintained during the course of multilineage differentiation of muscle-derived stem cells (MDSCs). We isolated MDSCs from GFP-transgenic mice and transferred them to chondrogenic, neurogenic or myogenic media. Multilineage differentiation was examined by morphological observation, histological staining, immunocytochemical staining, real-time RT-PCR and Western blot. Both differentiated cells and non-differentiated cells maintained stable GFP expression until the cells exhibited a senescent phenotype. Thus, MDSCs from GFP-transgenic mice have multilineage potential in vitro and that GFP expression does not influence the multilineage potential of MDSCs (or vice versa).

Application of 3D printed osteotomy guide plate-assisted total knee arthroplasty in treatment of valgus knee deformity.

INTRODUCTION: To analyze the application of 3D printed osteotomy guide plate-assisted total knee arthroplasty (TKA) for valgus knee deformity. METHODS: The clinical data of 20 patients with valgus knee deformity admitted to our hospital from April 2012 to April 2017 were collected and analyzed. According to the treatment method, these patients were divided into two groups: 3D printed osteotomy guide plate-assisted TKA (combined treatment group, n = 10) and TKA (treatment group, n = 10). The operation time, intraoperative bleeding volume, postoperative mean femorotibial angle (MFTA), and Knee Society Score (KSS) of the two groups were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: Compared with the treatment group, the operation time was significantly shorter (P < 0.05), the intraoperative blood loss and postoperative MFTA were significantly decreased (P < 0.05), and the clinical and functional scores were significantly increased (P < 0.05) in the combined treatment group. CONCLUSION: 3D printed osteotomy guide plate-assisted TKA for valgus knee deformity is more effective than TKA alone.