Syndactyly release with the use of the Pelnac™ artificial dermal substitute without skin grafting.

We present our results of one-stage resurfacing following syndactyly release with the Pelnac™ artificial dermal substitute. From 2016 to 2020, raw areas after digit release were restored with an artificial dermal substitute in 145 webs from 62 patients (average age, 33.1 months) including 65 simple incomplete web spaces, 29 simple complete web spaces, 20 complex complete web spaces, and 31 complex complicated web spaces. Fourteen patients were syndromic. The average follow-up period was 33.4 months (range, 7-55 months). Postoperative outcomes assessed as according to the Vancouver scar scale (0-14) averaged 1.8 (range, 0-11) and web creep score (0-5) averaged 0.7 (range, 0-4). Patient- and family-provided visual analog scale scores averaged 1.1 (range, 0-10) for appearance. In conclusion, the Pelnac™ artificial dermal substitute is a minimally invasive, simple, and effective option for one-stage resurfacing of defects in syndactyly release.

Pleiotrophin and peripheral nerve injury.

The proto-oncogene pleiotrophin, discovered in 1989, was considered as a multifunctional growth factor, which played an important role in tumor occurrence, development, and central nervous system. The latest research showed that pleiotrophin signal pathway probably participated in neural repair after peripheral nerve injury, especially in the following critical points, such as the protection of spinal cord neuron, the promotion of the speed of neuron axon regeneration, the guidance of neuron axon regeneration, skeleton muscle reinnervation, and so on. It potentially plays a key role in the guidance of neural axon regeneration in peripheral nervous system and muscle reinnervation. With the deepening of related researches, pleiotrophin gene would become a controllable target for improving the repairing effect of peripheral nerve injury and reconstruction of the neuromuscular junction.