A Systematic Review of Pressure Injuries Associated with Urethrocutaneous Fistula.

OBJECTIVE: To review the literature about combined urologic and reconstructive management of pressure injuries (PIs) with urethral fistulas. DATA SOURCES: Authors searched the PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases using the following keywords: "Perineum" or "Perineal" and "Pressure Ulcers" or '' Pressure Injury'' and "Urethral Fistula." STUDY SELECTION: The search yielded a total of 95 articles. Study selection followed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement, and the study was designed according to the PICOS (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, Study) guidelines. Congress abstracts, letters to the editor, and editorial comments were excluded. After screening, a total of 9 studies (30 patients) were included in the review. DATA EXTRACTION: Included patients received treatment for a perineal or ischial PI associated with a urinary fistula. The outcomes were recovery, complications, treatment failure, recurrence, and illness-related death. DATA SYNTHESIS: Pressure injuries were mainly ischiatic (50%) and perineal (43%). Forty-six percent of patients had spinal cord injuries, and at least 40% reported voiding dysfunction. Sixteen percent had previous ischiectomy. Flaps such as posterior thigh flap, biceps femoris flap, and inferiorly based transverse rectus abdominal muscle flap had 88% to 100% success rates when used with urinary diversion techniques. Suprapubic cystostomy, the simplest method of urinary diversion, was successful in 47% of cases when performed alone and in 100% when combined with a pedicled omental flap or a transverse rectus abdominal muscle flap. CONCLUSIONS: Prevention and wound care are essential for PI management, but when combined with a urinary fistula, surgical management is unavoidable. Urinary diversion is essential before undergoing any type of ulcer reconstruction. Urethral reconstruction showed favorable results, further strengthened when combined with a musculocutaneous flap.

Successful outcomes with flaps for recurrent cerebrospinal fluid leaks: A systematic review of the literature.

Complex back wounds with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak constitute a challenge for surgeons in clinical practice. While repair of complex back wounds with various flaps is well described in the literature, there is a paucity of reviews and articles regarding optimal treatment for refractory CSF leaks. The aim of this systematic review was to present the different flap techniques proposed in the literature for CSF leaks fistulas and pseudo-meningoceles. A systematic review of the literature was conducted using the PubMed, Medline, Embase, and Cochrane databases. Studies tackling different flap techniques used for spinal or skull base CSF leak were included in the studies. The main outcomes were complications and recurrences after previous failed treatments. Fifteen studies were included in the study, constituting a cohort of 42 patients (mean age 45 years; F/M ratio 1.15:1). A previous unsuccessful non-flap procedure was proposed in 88.1% of patients for their CSF leak. Only 16.7% had a recurrence of their CSF leak after the flap procedure. Free radial forearm flap and regional muscle flaps were more frequently used in the skull base region. Pedicled omental flaps and reverse turnover latissimus dorsi were the most commonly used flaps in the thoracolumbar region. No statistically significant differences were found between these flaps regarding rates of complications and recurrence. Flaps should be considered as a safe and effective treatment option for complex back wounds with CSF leaks. All proposed flaps in the literature seem to provide an equivalent cure rate for recurrent and refractory leaks.

Auricular pseudocysts: a systematic review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Auricular pseudocysts are benign fluid accumulations of the ear of uncertain etiology. Little is known about the optimal modality to successfully treat these lesions. No systematic review addressing auricular pseudocysts have been published to date. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to summarize all the published data regarding diagnostic and therapeutic challenges of auricular pseudocysts. METHODS: On May 28, 2020, a systematic search of Medline, Embase, and Cochrane databases was conducted. All the studies describing treatment of auricular pseudocysts, procedure description, outcome, and follow-up period were included in this review. RESULTS: After full-text article review, 74 articles were included, representing a total of 1,011 lesions. The commonly used treatments for auricular pseudocysts were deroofing (493 lesions), aspiration (284 lesions), incision and drainage (171 lesions), intralesional steroids (53 lesions), and observation (10 lesions). The highest cure rate was found with the deroofing procedure (97.2%) followed by incision and drainage (95.9%). The mean follow-up period was 6.7 months. CONCLUSION: Surgical procedures (anterior deroofing or incision and drainage) showed the highest cure rates and should be considered as first-line treatment for auricular pseudocysts. Future adequately designed randomized controlled trials are warranted to compare the efficacy of the techniques described.

Breast Implant-associated Double Capsules: What Do We Know So Far? A Systematic Review of the Literature.

INTRODUCTION: A double capsule is a recently described rare occurrence following breast implant placement in which an inner capsule envelope totally or partially adheres to the implant surface while a distinct outer capsule adheres to surrounding tissues, with an intercapsular space developing between the two. The objective of this study is to review all available literature related to formation of double capsules and propose a treatment algorithm. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A systematic review of the literature was conducted using Embase, Medline, and Cochrane databases. Articles reporting management of breast implant-associated double capsules were included in this review. RESULTS: A total of 9 studies (68 implants) were included in the review. 94.1% of double capsules occurred with textured Biocell shaped and round implants independently from implant pocket (p value=0.64). In all cases, double capsules were diagnosed fortuitously intra-operatively for another surgical indication. Capsular contracture was present in 50% of double capsules patients and was the most common indication for secondary breast surgery, 81.5% of which being clinically evident (p value<0.001). Treatment consisted in 84.4% in an inner capsulectomy with smooth implants exchange, and management of the outer capsule as per the capsular contracture algorithm. CONCLUSION: Double capsule formation is caused by delamination of a tight adhering capsule to a textured implant surface into two layers and continuous micro-shearing forces, and the probable contribution of bacterial biofilm. The only treatment reported so far includes inner with or without outer capsulectomy with smooth implant exchange. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE III: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Profiling of Oropharyngeal Dysphagia in an Acute Care Hospital Setting.

PURPOSE: To identify the main complaints, diagnostic tools, as well as the treatment plan in patients presenting with oropharyngeal dysphagia in the acute care settings. METHODS: The electronic medical chart of 100 consecutive hospitalized patients who presented an oropharyngeal dysphagia were retrospectively reviewed from January 2017 to January 2019. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 76.03 (standard deviation = 16.06) years old with 71% of patients being males. The most common admission diagnosis was pneumonia (30%), followed by stroke (28%). The swallowing evaluation was performed on the regular floor in 85% of patients and in the intensive care unit in 15% of patients. The main reasons for the swallowing evaluation are suspicion of aspiration by the medical or nursing teams (60%), systematic evaluation (20%), ear, nose and throat (ENT) complaints by the patient (14%), and aspiration pneumonia (6%). Fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing with sensitivity testing was the most common diagnostic tool used alone in 88% of patients. Diet and postural modifications were prescribed to 71% and 62% of the patients, respectively. Swallowing exercises were performed in 43% of patients. Overall, otolaryngologist interventions resulted in an increased rate of patients getting oral intake compared to nonoral feeding routes (P = .05). CONCLUSIONS: This study adds knowledge about the causes and characteristics of oropharyngeal dysphagia in an acute tertiary medical setting. It also provides insights regarding the role, and the consequences of a swallowing intervention led by an ENT specialist in collaboration with the members of the health team.

Is the apical vertebra the most rotated vertebra in the scoliotic curve?

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine if the apical vertebra (AV) in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is the most rotated vertebra in the scoliotic segment. METHODS: A total of 158 patients with AIS (Cobb angle range 20°-101°) underwent biplanar radiography with 3D reconstructions of the spine and calculation of vertebral axial rotations. The type of major curvature was recorded (thoracic, thoracolumbar, or lumbar), and both major and minor curvatures were included. The difference of levels (DL) between the level of maximal vertebral rotation (LMVR) and the AV was calculated as follows: DL = 0 if LMVR and AV were the same, DL = 1 if LMVR was directly above or below the AV, and DL = 2 if LMVR was separated by 1 vertebra or more from the AV. To investigate which factors explained the divergence of the LMVR from the AV, multinomial models were computed. RESULTS: The distribution of the DL was as follows: for major curvatures, 143 were DL = 0, 11 were DL = 1, and 4 were DL = 2; and for minor curvatures, 53 were DL = 0, 9 were DL = 1, and 31 were DL = 2. The determinants of a DL = 2 (compared with DL = 0) were lumbar curvature (compared with thoracic; adjusted OR 0.094, p = 0.001), major curvature (compared with minor; adjusted OR 0.116, p = 0.001), and curvatures with increasing apical vertebral rotation (adjusted OR 0.788, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the AV is the most rotated vertebra in the majority of major curvatures, while in minor curvatures, the most rotated vertebra appears to be the junctional vertebra between major and minor curvatures in a significant proportion of cases.