[About cover of ballistic wounds of distal third of leg in civilian ways]. / A propos de la couverture des traumatismes balistiques du tiers inférieur de jambe en pratique civile.

Major causes of ballistic wounds are shooting accidents. Goals of this work are to suggest a position about ballistic wounds of leg's distal third. Reconstruction of ballistic wounds of leg's distal third is difficult, because of lack of laxity and veinous drainage in distal third; and characteristics of ballistic wounds. Ballistic traumas give a temporary cavity, which induce levelled wounds of neurovascular pedicules. We present three cases. One patient benefits from a sural flap, whereas the two others benefit respectively from a free parascapular flap and a free latissimus dorsi flap with free osseous graft. Functional results were considered as good. Treatment of ballistic wounds ask for certain specificities: 1) meticulous evaluation of wounds; 2) evaluation of vascular axis of leg. Debridments are numerous under general anaesthesia before a reconstruction with axial regional flap or free flap, which vessels are anastomosed distant. Reconstruction must be done before the tenth day.

[Funnel chest: filling technique with deep custom made implant]. / Pectus excavatum: technique de comblement par endoprothèse profonde sur mesure.

Through 97 patients over 9 years, the authors present a surgical treatment for "funnel chest" using custom-made silicone elastomer prothesis which are deeply placed, behind muscle and aponevroses. They justify the choice of this simple and non invasive technique, by the fact that this deformation is only morphological in most cases or even only inaesthetic with exceptional cardiac or pulmonary consequences. Patient's motivation being mainly due to psychological disconfort, the non invasive aspect of the technique leads them to choose surgery, particularly as results are good and complications seldom.

[The tuberous breast: a review]. / Les seins tubéreux: une mise au point.

The tuberous breast is one of the most challenging problem in breast surgery. Pediatricians, gynaecologists and plastic surgeons are particularly concerned with the treatment of these young patients. A good assessment of the pathology and a precise knowledge of the surgical procedures are keypoints for a successful treatment. A case report will precede a literature overview of this very complex problem.

[Deflation of breast implants, pre-filled with saline or hydrogel. Results and analysis of 650 treated patients]. / Dégonflement des prothèses mammaires pré-remplies de sérum physiologique ou d'hydrogel. Résultats et analyse d'une série de 650 patientes opérées.

SUBJECT: The main mechanical side effect of saline or hydrogel filled implants is deflation. The aim of this study was to analyse the prosthetic deflation rate in the last 7 years in the plastic surgery unit of Toulouse. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We tracked 650 patients operated on between july 1993 and july 2000 (representing 1117 primary implants) which we separated in two groups: the first group contained patients in need of breast reconstruction; the second group contained all the patients with implants placed for aesthetic or breast asymMetry reasons. For each of the two groups we determined the number and the type of implants, as well as the rate and the mean delay after which deflation occurred. RESULTS: During this period, we've determined that: rate of deflation of group 1 (reconstruction) is highest than group 2 (aesthetic), despite sort of implant; rates of deflation of pre-filled hydrogel implants are highest than rates of deflation of pre-filled saline implants. DISCUSSION: Only a few series concerning implants deflation have been described in the literature. We can find a large difference in results which vary from 2 to 76%. We were surprised by the result of our series with a rate of deflation up to 15% with a medium follow-up 5 years in both groups and a mean delay before the fourth year. Deflation's factors are numerous: type of sterilisation, rippling, texture, valve's incompetence, prosthetic patch, guarantee control and iatrogenic causes. Because the silicone gel implants (the one uncomplicated by deflation) were taken off the french market, the saline implants tried to supplant them but without satisfactory results. CONCLUSIONS: With the unacceptable rate deflation of implants in our study, the return in the french market of silicone gel implants seems us an acceptable alternative.

[Skin necrosis after prophylactic treatment with heparin]. / Nécrose cutanée après traitement prophylactique par héparine.

The authors present a case of cutaneous necrosis following local injection of heparin. The physiopathology and the clinical aspect are discussed.