Transplantation of fibula with vascular pedicle for fusion of ankle in leprotic drop-foot

Devascularized bone grafts are pieces of dead bone they simply serve as scaffods for new bone to grow and fill the gap, taking a long time when they succeed in doing so. In constrast, vascularized grafts being living tissues have short healing time, great vitality and strong infection resisting capacity. We report here the successful use of vascularized grafts of the lower end of fibula for fusing the ankle in five leprosy patients

[Transposition of the tendon of M. tibialis posterior an effective treatment of drop foot; retrospective study with follow-up in 12 patients]. / Transpositie van de pees van de M. tibialis posterior effectief bij een klapvoet; retrospectief onderzoek met follow-up bij 12 patiënten.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the results of transposition of the tendon of the M. tibialis posterior in patients with a drop foot. DESIGN: Descriptive, retrospective and follow-up investigation. METHODS: Surgical treatment was carried out in 12 patients with a drop foot (9 women and 3 men, with an average age of 37 years) in the period 1986-1998. The aetiology of the drop foot was a traumatic or iatrogenic lesion of the peroneal nerve or sciatic nerve in 9 patients and in 3 patients spina bifida occulta, leprosy and a herniation of a lumbar disc respectively. None of the patients had important comorbidity. Treatment consisted of lengthening the Achilles tendon according to Huckstep, transposition of the tibial posterior tendon in two tails to the dorsomedial and dorsolateral side of the foot, and six weeks of immobilisation in plaster of Paris. RESULTS: The postoperative period was without complications. The treatment improved the heel-toe steppage gait in all patients. None of the 10 patients who had used an orthosis preoperatively still used it at the time of the follow up. Fifty per cent of the patients acquired a dorsiflexion of the foot of more than 0 degree. The results were in accordance with those in the literature. CONCLUSION: Transposition of the tibial posterior tendon is a worthwhile alternative for those patients with a drop foot (and without important comorbidity) who cannot walk satisfactorily with an ankle-foot orthosis.

Leprosy presenting as unilateral foot drop in an immigrant boy.

This is a case report of a boy who presented with unilateral foot drop approximately 1 year after traumatic injury from skateboarding. Exploratory surgical operation was eventually performed, and histological examination of the surgical specimen revealed leprous peripheral neuropathy of the peroneal nerve. The patient had immigrated from Vietnam to the United States 3 years previously. The occurrence, albeit rare, of this entity in the immigrants from endemic leprosy regions is discussed.

The surgical management of nerve lesions in the lower limbs. Clinical evaluation, surgical technique and results.

The author present his experience of the repair of nerve lesions in the lower limb. The cases are classified into four main groups: traumatic lesions; acute and chronic compression; tumours and leprosy. The traumatic lesions include those associated with a clean wound, missile injuries, traction injuries and a miscellaneous group. The diagnosis and treatment of the different lesions are discussed. The results of nerve grafting using microsurgical techniques are presented. The results are good enough, even in severe traction injuries, to recommend the repair of nerve lesions of the lower limbs in the circumstances which are outlined.