A new reconstructive technique for posterior vaginal wall defects, a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Post-partum vaginal laxity is a problem encountered by many women. More uncommon is a resulting vaginal defect. In most cases of laxity, a period of extensive physiotherapy can strengthen the pelvic muscles enough for symptoms to be minimized. However, this is not the case once there is a tissue defect. AIM: To present a new reconstructive method for patients with posterior vaginal wall defects. METHODS: We present a case of a 38-year-old female who, 12 years prior to presentation, had a vaginal delivery. Due to complications during the delivery, she sustained pelvic trauma and developed a posterior vaginal wall defect. She had a sizable soft tissue defect, causing sexual, urinary, and confidence problems. Fat was harvested from the patient's abdomen and injected into the defect after more conservative treatment options were exhausted. RESULTS: The defect was corrected successfully using the minimally invasive Coleman fat grafting technique. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: This is to our knowledge the first case in the literature where a posterior vaginal defect has been corrected using Coleman fat grafting, and we believe that this treatment method may be of benefit to more patients.

Idiopathic neonatal ischemia in the upper limb: the role of the microsurgeon.

Idiopathic neonatal limb ischemia remains a rare occurrence. It is a devastating process that leads to complete or partial loss of affected limb or severe deformity. The main treatments over the years have been conservative and nonsurgical, such thrombolysis. Surgical treatment has traditionally been delayed until a line of demarcation is clear, at which time amputation of the limb proceeds. We present a case of idiopathic upper limb ischemia in a newborn, where it was clear that nonsurgical management would result in limb necrosis. A thrombus extended from the brachial bifurcation into both ulnar and radial arteries to the wrist. The plastic surgery team performed surgical decompression and microsurgical open thrombectomy to successfully reestablish the circulation to the affected hand. Eight months later, the child remains well. This is the first reported case in the literature where an idiopathic thrombus blocking the brachial, radial, and ulnar arteries is successfully treated microsurgically.

Cancer Incidence and Mortality in Greenland 1983-2014 - Including Comparison With the Other Nordic Countries.

BACKGROUND: During the last decades, social and life-style changes in Greenland have led to an increase in the incidence of several non-communicable diseases. Our aim is to present the cancer incidence and mortality in Greenland and compare the results with the other Nordic countries. METHODS: The data stems from The Danish Cancer Registry and The Danish Register of Causes of Death. Comparable data on cancer incidence and mortality in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Greenland are available through collaboration between Nordic Cancer Registries (NORDCAN). We included all individuals residing in Greenland and diagnosed with or died of a cancer from 1983 to 2014. FINDINGS: The total number of cancer cases in Greenland for the study period was 4716 and there were 3231 cancer deaths. Respiratory and gastrointestinal cancers had the highest incidence as well as mortality in Greenland for the entire time period and for both sexes. Compared to the other Nordic countries, Greenland had significantly higher incidence and mortality rates for several cancers. Cancer of the lip, oral cavity, and pharynx, respiratory cancer, and cancer of unknown sites had the highest incidence rate ratios (2.3-3.9) and mortality rate ratios (2.7-9.9) for both sexes. The time trend from 1983 to 2014 showed a significant increase in cancer incidence in Greenland with nearly the same incidence level as the other Nordic countries. While the cancer mortality decreased in the other Nordic countries during the time period studied, there was no change in the cancer-specific mortality in Greenland. INTERPRETATIONS: The trends in cancer incidence and mortality in Greenland compared to the other Nordic countries have not been reported earlier. These data underline a need to focus on cancer-specific mortality in Greenland and prevention of high-incidence cancers related to well-established risk factors.

Objective assessment of surgical training in flexor tendon repair: the utility of a low-cost porcine model as demonstrated by a single-subject research design.

OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the utility of a porcine flexor tendon model and standard biomechanical testing procedures to quantify the acquisition of surgical skills associated with Zone II flexor tendon repair in a trainee by benchmarking task performance outcomes relative to evidence-based standards. STUDY DESIGN: Single-subject repeated measures research design. Bench-top set-up of apparatus undertaken in a University Research laboratory. After initial directed learning, a trainee repaired 70 fresh flexor digitorum profundus tendons within the flexor sheath using either a Pennington or ventral-locking-loop modification of a two-strand Kessler core repair. Tendon repairs were then preconditioned and distracted to failure. Key biomechanical parameters of the repair, including the ultimate tensile strength (UTS), yield strength, 3 mm gap force and stiffness, were calculated. Repairs were divided into 3 categories, early (first 10 days), intermediate (ensuing 10 days), and late repairs (final 10 days), and potential changes in repair properties over the training period were evaluated using a general linear modeling approach. RESULTS: There was a significant change in the mechanical characteristics of the repairs over the training period, evidencing a clear learning effect (p < 0.05). Irrespective of the repair technique employed, early and intermediate repairs were characterized by a significantly lower UTS (29% and 20%, respectively), 3 mm gap (21% and 16%, respectively), and yield force (18% and 23%, respectively), but had a higher stiffness (33% and 38%, respectively) than late repairs (p < 0.05). The UTS of late repairs (47-48 N) were comparable to those published within the literature (45-51 N), suggesting surgical competence of the trainee. CONCLUSIONS: This simple, low-cost porcine model appears to be useful for providing preclinical training in flexor tendon repair techniques and has the potential to provide a quantitative index to evaluate the competency of surgical trainees. Further research is now required to identify optimal training parameters for flexor tendon repair and to develop procedure-specific standards for adequate benchmarking.