ABSTRACT
Background Plastic surgery has developed to benefit in a variety of challenging areas formerly handled by other disciplines. Medical students do not have a clear picture of plastic surgery as a career due to lacking scope, clinical practice, and understanding of plastic surgery as a clinical area of expertise, including general practitioners, nursing staff, medical trainees, and the general public, and misconceptions about the extent of reconstructive and plastic surgery. Methods A cross-sectional observational study was conducted on Kuwait University Medical students (2nd-7th Years) over a period of 1 month. A questionnaire and a consent form were provided to eligible students. The inclusion criteria were Kuwait University Medical students from 2nd to 7th Years with signed consent form. The response was collected via email sent in coordination with the Vice Dean of Student Affairs in the Faculty of Medicine. Using statistical package for the social sciences, responses were statistically analyzed. Pearson's chi-square test was used to calculate p -values, where p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results A total of 244 eligible medical students, 121 males and 123 females, were included in the study, with a mean age of 21 (±2) years. Similarly, 126 (51.6%) were preclinical students (2nd-4th-year students), while 118 (48.4%) were clinical students (5th-7th-year students). About 79.8% of medical students believed that plastic surgery plays an essential role in trauma management, whereas 9.2% did not consider plastic surgery significant for trauma management. This study found that only 15.5% of medical students were interested in enrolling in plastic surgery residency after graduation, while 47.1% of students did not consider plastic surgery residency after graduation. However, 37.4% were uncertain. The two most driving factors in deciding on plastic surgery residency were expected income (61.8%) and lifestyle (14.3%). Conclusion Improving medical students' education quality can enhance their perception and awareness of plastic surgery. Students should be taught the broader scope of plastic surgery. The inclusion of formal training during undergraduation is the essence of time and should be added to or improved during plastic surgery rotations with more emphasis on reconstructive and hand/peripheral nerve surgery. Student-led interest groups can be a useful tool for educating students about their specialty.
ABSTRACT
The extensor system of the hand is an intricate complex component that involves a working balance between the extrinsic and intrinsic muscles of extension. Injuries to the extensor tendons are typically repaired primarily or by tendon transfers or grafts at a second stage. A 16-year-old boy sustained a right hand crush injury following an all-terrain vehicle accident, resulting in the loss of dorsal skin and extensor tendons of digits 3, 4, and 5 involving extensor zones 4-6, and oblique fractures in the second and third metacarpal bones. Primary surgery involved fixation of aforementioned fractures utilizing K-wires along with superficial circumflex iliac artery flap coverage for the raw areas post debridement. Following this, primary extensor tendon reconstruction was performed using silicon Hunter rod implants and autologous tendon grafts via a two-stage approach. Over a 2-year postoperative period, the patient demonstrated active functional extension of all four fingers with some limitations to range of motion. This case report supports the hypothesis that the pseudo-synovial sheaths created by silicone rod implants assist the easy gliding motion of tendon grafts in the second stage of reconstruction, reducing the risk of tendon adhesions, shortening, and extension lag.
