Applying the Suprainguinal Approach of Fascia Iliaca Compartment Block for Surgical Anesthesia in a Patient Undergoing Emergency Femoral Thrombectomy: A Case Report.

We present the first documented case of achieving surgical anesthesia for a vascular surgery using the suprainguinal approach of the fascia iliaca compartment block (SFICB), in a patient with severe comorbidities from the cardiovascular system. More specifically, a male elderly patient with a history of cardiac amyloidosis, severe aortic stenosis, and coronary artery disease, was in need of emergent thrombectomy due to acute lower limb ischemia. During the evaluation of this patient, general and neuraxial anesthesia were both considered. However, the former would expose him to the risk of myocardial ischemia and other complications due to cardiovascular instability caused by the general anesthetic agents while the latter was absolutely contraindicated due to recent clopidogrel use and the specific pathophysiology changes induced by cardiac amyloidosis. Thus, a peripheral nerve block was deemed to be the best option in this case. SFICB, despite being challenging, could offer adequate analgesic results so it was the anesthetic technique of choice. The surgery was completed and the patient recovered appropriately. The aim of this report is to discuss the specific anesthetic considerations of this case, highlight the ability of SFICB to achieve surgical anesthesia in vascular surgeries, and increase familiarity with the procedure.

Anterior dislocation of sternoclavicular joint: A novel surgical technique.

INTRODUCTION: Anterior sternoclavicular joint dislocation (SCJ) is a relative rare injury, related to high energy trauma. The objective of the present study is to present a novel suture technique for treatment of anterior SCJ traumatic dislocation and to report clinical outcomes from a small case series undergoing this procedure. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients presenting with traumatic anterior SCJ disruption in our institution were eligible to participate. Surgical technique consisted of two bone tunnels drilled in vertical direction from the anterior to the posterior cortex of the manubrium. Analogous to the sternal side of the clavicle, two vertical bone tunnels were drilled from the anterior cortex towards the posterior cortex. A non-absorbable suture was passed though the four holes in a parallel configuration. Then, by pulling the free suture edges the posterior translation of the clavicle was performed. Two additional drill holes, the first in manubrium and the second in clavicle were performed from the anterior cortex to the posterior between the previous bone tunnels. A non-absorbable suture was placed in a simple configuration in order to stabilize the SCJ in the superior-inferior direction. The final follow up was 28.2 months. The mean QuickDASH was used for functional assessment. RESULTS: Seven patients (6 males and 1 female) with average age of 34,8 years were included in the present study. Two patients suffered from concomitant medial clavicle fracture. At final follow-up (none of the patients had experienced any symptoms of instability of SCJ, no side-to-side difference was observed, while the Mean QuickDASH score was 4.85. CONCLUSION: The reported technique for SCJ reconstruction in traumatic anterior SCJ dislocations with two sutures has theoretical advantages, since it stabilizes the SCJ in the antero-posterior, as well as the supero- inferior direction. Outcomes from this small case series are favorable. However, more research is desirable to compare different techniques and to conclude to the optimal surgical treatment.

Similar 2-point discrimination and stereognosia but better locognosia at long term with an independent home-based sensory reeducation program vs no reeducation after low-median nerve transection and repair.

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective controlled study. INTRODUCTION: Previous studies evaluated the effectiveness of sensory reeducation (SR) after peripheral nerve injury and repair. However, evidence for long-term clinical usefulness of SR is inconclusive. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The purpose of this study is to compare the sensory results of patients with low-median nerve complete transection and microsurgical repair, with and without SR at long term. METHODS: We prospectively studied 52 consecutive patients (mean age, 36 years; range, 20-47 years) with low-median nerve complete transection and microsurgical repair. When reinnervation was considered complete with perception of vibration with a 256-cycles per second tuning fork (mean, 3.5 months after nerve injury and repair), the patients were sequentially allocated (into 2 groups [group SR, 26 patients, SR; group R, 26 patients, reassured on recovery without SR). SR was conducted in a standardized fashion, in 2 stages, as an independent home-based program: the first stage was initiated when reinnervation was considered complete, and included instruction in home exercises to identify familiar objects and papers of different roughness, and localization of light touch (eyes open and closed); the second stage was initiated when the patients experienced normal static and moving 2-point discrimination (2PD) at the index fingertip of injured hand, and included instruction in home exercises for stereognosia, supplementary exercises for localization of light touch, and identification of small objects (eyes open and closed). Exercises were prescribed for 5-10 minutes, 4 times per day. At 1.5, 3, and 6 years after nerve injury and repair, we evaluated the static and moving 2PD, stereognosia with the Moberg's pick-up test, and locognosia with the modified Marsh test. Comparison between groups and time points was done with the nonparametric analysis of variance (Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance). RESULTS: Static and moving 2PD and stereognosia were not significantly different between groups at any study period. Locognosia was significantly better at 1.5 and 3 years in group SR; locognosia was excellent in 17 patients of group SR vs 5 patients of group R at 1.5-year follow-up and in 14 patients of group SR vs 5 patients of group R at 3-year follow-up. Locognosia was not different between the study groups at 6-year follow-up. CONCLUSION: A 2-stage home program of SR improved locognosia at 1.5 and 3 years after low-median nerve complete transection and repair without significant differences in other modalities or the 6-year follow-up of a small subsample.

Four-corner fusion of the wrist: clinical and radiographic outcome of 31 patients.

BACKGROUND: Four-corner fusion is a rational surgical option for the management of degenerative conditions of the wrist. Most related studies have compared four-corner fusion with scaphoid excision or proximal row carpectomy, with a variety of reported results. To enhance the literature, we performed this study to evaluate a series of patients with degenerative conditions of the wrist treated with four-corner fusion using 3 surgical techniques and to discuss the clinical and radiographic outcome of the patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively studied 31 patients (24 men, 7 women; mean age, 43 years; 9 heavy manual laborers) who underwent four-corner fusion of their wrists for degenerative conditions from 2005 to 2015. Internal fixation was done using multiple Kirschner wires (14 patients), headless compressive screws (8 patients), or a circular plate (9 patients). Mean follow-up was 4 years (1-11 years). We evaluated the clinical outcome with the Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE) score and fusion with radiographs. RESULTS: All patients experienced improvement of their pain, function, range of motion and grip strength (p < 0.05). Twenty-three patients (74 %) reported no pain, and eight patients reported mild, occasional pain. Twenty-one patients (68 %) were able to do usual and specific activities. Mean wrist motion improved to 70 % and mean grip strength improved to 85 % of opposite wrist. Two heavy manual labor patients requested a job modification because of wrist impairment. Radiographs of the wrist showed fusion of all fused joints in 28 (90.3 %) patients and partial fusion in three patients (9.7 %). No patient with partial fusion required a reoperation for symptomatic nonunion until the period of this study. Three patients experienced complications (10 %). Two patients treated with a circular plate experienced complex regional pain syndrome and painful implant impingement; another patient treated with Kirschner wires and headless compression screws experienced radiolunate arthritis from impingement of the lunate screw to the radius. CONCLUSIONS: Four-corner fusion is a reliable limited wrist fusion technique that provides pain relief, grip strength and satisfactory range of motion in patients with degenerative conditions of the wrist. Partial union is more common with Kirschner wire fixation and complications are more common with circular plate fixation.

Effects of Chemical Control, Cultivar Resistance, and Structure of Cultivar Root System on Black Shank Incidence of Tobacco.

Black shank, caused by the hemibiotrophic oomycete Phytophthora parasitica var. nicotianae, is a major disease of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). The rise of race 1 in the late 1990s, after extensive cropping of cultivars possessing the Php gene, confirming immunity to race 0 of P. parasitica var. nicotianae, imposed new challenges to black shank management. The effects of tobacco cultivars and chemical controls with mefenoxam (Ridomil Gold) on black shank incidence were investigated in naturally infested fields. Twenty-five cultivars were tested and the highest resistance for races 0 and 1 of P. parasitica var. nicotianae was provided by RJR 75 and SP 227 based on field and laboratory studies. When race 1 was prevalent, mefenoxam was effective to control black shank. An initial application at an early stage of tobacco growth, such as a few days before or after transplant, was essential to successfully control the disease. In greenhouse experiments, cultivars carrying the Php gene produced fewer and shorter adventitious roots than cultivars possessing only partial resistance to all races of P. parasitica var. nicotianae. Strategies such as use of mefenoxam, especially at an early stage, when adventitious roots are emerging, and planting a cultivar with high partial resistance or possessing the Ph gene when race 1 or race 0, respectively, predominates are critical factors in reducing loss due to P. parasitica var. nicotianae.

Partial fasciectomy for Dupuytren's contractures.

One hundred ninety-six patients with Dupuytren's contractures were treated by partial fasciectomy and adequate postoperative rehabilitation. All patients had flexion contracture of the proximal interphalangeal joint of >20 degrees ; 93 patients had flexion contracture of the associated metacarpophalangeal joint of >30 degrees ; 143 patients had risk factors for Dupuytren's disease. Primary skin closure and splinting were done in all patients. Range of motion was begun by the 1st week. Splinting was discontinued by the 2nd week, followed by night-time splinting until the 8th week. The mean follow-up was 6.6 years (range, 2-9 years). At the latest examination, 72.5% of the patients had complete range of motion of the metacarpophalangeal and proximal interphalangeal joints; 20.2% had 5 degrees -10 degrees of extension deficit and 7.3% had recurrent contractures of >20 degrees at the proximal interphalangeal joint and were subjected to reoperation. Complications included digital neurovascular injury in 5%, complex regional pain syndrome in 10.1%, and wound-healing problems and superficial infections in 15.1%.

Perioperative creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and troponin I trends after elective hip surgery.

BACKGROUND: Perioperative myocardial infarction (MI) is an important risk factor for cardiac morbidity and mortality after hip surgery. On the basis of the limitations of creatine kinase cardiac muscle isoenzyme (CK-MB) in the perioperative setting, and the high specificity of troponin I, we hypothesized that troponin I would be effective at detecting perioperative MI more frequently than CK-MB would be, after hip surgery. METHODS: A prospective study of the serum levels of creatine phosphokinase (CPK), its isoenzyme CK-MB, and troponin I, in 90 patients with risk factors for coronary artery disease, undergoing hip surgery is reported. We measured these cardiac markers in the postoperative period for 5 days, after hemiarthroplasty, total hip arthroplasty, and hip intramedullary nailing. RESULTS: We found increased levels of creatine phosphokinase and CK-MB, after all the types of operation, with maximum levels reached on the first postoperative day and the levels were more pronounced after total hip arthroplasty. False-elevated CK-MB index >6% without MI was evidenced in 43.3% of patients. Troponin I levels were elevated >3.1 ng/mL only in the patients who suffered MI postoperatively. All the patients who suffered MI had both CK-MB index and troponin I levels elevated. Also, we found high correlation between maximum CK-MB levels and size of implants, which means that reaming and its heating effect may be responsible for false-elevated CK-MB levels, except direct muscle damage caused by surgical incision. CONCLUSION: CK-MB index and troponin I have the same sensitivity, but troponin I is more specific than CK-MB index in detecting MI after hip surgery.

Complete orbit and forehead reconstruction using a free latissimus dorsi flap and MEDPOR implants.

BACKGROUND: Reconstruction of enormous composite defects of the face in the presence of meningitis is a difficult problem. We present a case of a 29-year-old man with a huge, posttraumatic bone and soft tissue defect of the upper half of the left side of the face (orbit-zygoma-frontal-partial temporal bones), frontal lobe of the brain, and enucleated eye with intact facial skin. METHODS: An initial reconstruction using cement was complicated by multiple episodes of meningitis. In a multiple-stage procedure, we used a free latissimus dorsi muscle flap to re-construct the soft tissue defect and control the infection, a complete left orbit and frontal MEDPOR implant for the bone defect, and also an orbital sphere MEDPOR implant for the eyeball. RESULTS: In a 2-year follow-up, no infection was observed, and the cosmetic result is satisfactory. CONCLUSION: The combination of free flap and MEDPOR implants demonstrates an alternative method for reconstruction of complicated facial defects.

Pacientes miológicos com defeitos extensos: opcões de reconstrucão. Relato de caso / Cancer patients with large defects. Reconstructional options: a case study

Referimo-nos ao caso de um paciente masculino de setenta e cinco anos de idade, com um carcinoma espinocelular (SCC), que se originou na parte exterior da orelha direita há quatro anos. Sofreu uma remocão cirúrgica da parte lesionada combinada com disseccão modificada do pescoco e reconstrucão com o uso de retalho peitoral maior. Além disso, teve radioterapia com 6000 rads na região temporal direita. Há dois meses o paciente mostrou urna recorrência expansiva no que diz respeito ao músculo temporal e ao osso, o osso litóide, os músculos masseter e os músculos pterigóideos, a parte direita da mandíbula, a glândula da parótida com o nervo facial, e o bulbo superior da veia jugular interna. Sofreu uma remocão cirúrgica da lesão afetada até as extremidades saudáveis e reconstrucão estética e funcional com a utilizacão combinada de uma prótese de metal fixa do côndilo e da mandíbula direita e o uso de músculo-cutâneo trapezious flap. Apresentamos o relato de um caso sobre as opcões de reconstrucão que nós temos em nossos dias para proporcionar qualidade de vida a doentes que sofrem de cancro.

Cancer patients with large defects. Reconstructional options: a case study.

We report a case of a seventy-five years old male patient with a squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) originated from the right external ear four years ago. He was undergone surgical removal of the lesion with a combination of modified neck dissection and reconstruction with the use of pectoralis major flap. Furthermore, he had radiotherapy with 6000 rads of the right temporal region. Two months ago the patient showed an extended recurrence concerning the temporal muscle and bone, the lithoid bone, the masseter and the pterygoid muscles, the right part of the mandible, the parotid gland with the facial nerve, and the superior bulb of the internal jugular vein. He had a surgical removal of the lesion in extended healthy margins and functional and esthetic reconstruction of the defect with a combination of metal fixed prosthesis of the condyle and the right mandible and the use of myocutaneous trapezius flap. This is a case report of the reconstruction options we have nowadays to provide quality of life in cancer patients.