Is routine ulnar nerve transposition necessary in open release of stiff elbows? Our experience and a literature review.

PURPOSE: Prophylactic release of the ulnar nerve to reduce the incidence of postoperative nerve symptoms in stiff elbows has been recommended. However, the necessity for routine anterior transposition remains unclear. In this study, we aim to gain an insight into the value of routine transposition in open release of stiff elbows. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 94 patients suffering from elbow stiffness with no pre-operative ulnar nerve symptoms. Simple decompression (with in situ decompression or epicondylectomy) and subcutaneous anterior transposition were chronologically performed in 53 and 37 patients, respectively. Another four patients were treated by a single lateral approach with no intervention of the ulnar nerve. Pre- and postoperative range of motion and incidence of ulnar nerve symptoms were recorded. The function of ulnar nerve was measured by Amadio rating scale. RESULTS: The incidence of ulnar nerve dysfuction was 18.9% (ten of 53) and 8.1% (three of 37) in the simple decompression and transposition groups, respectively. The mean Amadio scores were 7.62 and 8.22, respectively. All these data showed a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05). In the lateral approach group, 50 % (two of four) of patients developed nerve symptoms with a mean Amadio score of 6.50. CONCLUSIONS: The transposition group exhibited a superior nervous outcomes compared with the simple decompression group. No comparison was conducted between the transposition and lateral approach groups because of too few patients in the latter. According to related literature and our experience, we conclude that routine transposition is necessary to prevent postoperative nerve symptoms.

Clinical application of modified dorsal island flap of index finger for repairing the soft tissue defect of thumb tip / 中华显微外科杂志

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effect of modified dorsal metacarpal artery island flap of index finger without skin graft in repairing different types of soft tissue defect of thumb tip.Methods From August,2015 to October,2017,25 patients with soft tissue defect of the thumb tip were included in the study.Sixteen cases were males and 9 cases were females.Seventeen defects were in thumb dorsal and 8 cases were in thumb pulp.A modified dorsal island flap of index finger was used and the dorsal metacarpal superficial vein fascial flap could be harvest and combined to repair the thumb pulp defect if necessary.A relaying perforator flap pedicled on the second dorsal metacarpal artery was raised through the same incision to cover the donor site without skin graft.Followed-up was made by clinic,telephone and WeChat.Results The patients were followed-up for 6 to 18 months.All flaps survived completely without complications.The color,texture and contour of the flaps was good.Only 1 linear scar was left in the dorsum of the hand and no skin grafts.The second dorsal metacarpal artery flap was used to cover the donor site.Twenty-one cases (84％) were satisfied with the postoperative appearance of the thumb.The function was assessed as excellent in 16 fingers,good in 6 fingers and fair in 3 fingers.No complication occurred in the donor site.Conclusion It is possible to use the modified dorsal island flap of index finger to repair different types of thumb tip defects.A second dorsal metacarpal artery flap can be used as a relaying flap to cover the donor site without skin grafts.

Treatment of the defect on digit and toe with modified Reading man flap / 中华整形外科杂志

Objective@#To introduce the design of modified Reading man flap, and observe the clinical effect of modified flap for repairing digit and toe wounds.@*Methods@#From July 2014 to September 2017, dorsal skin defects on 37 digits and 18 toes were repaired with our modified Reading man flaps. The revised design was characterized with enlargement the major flap and extending the minor flap proximally, and all donor site defect were sutured primarily through the major flap recover the defect and the minor flap repair the subsequent donor defect.@*Results@#All the detects in 55 patients were repaired by the modified Reading man flaps with direct donor sites closure. With average of 11.5 months (9.5-25.7 months) follow-up, all flaps survived with satisfactory texture and appearance, the bulky deformity and scar contracture did not occur. Partial necrosis of tip in the minor flaps occurred in 2 toes and healed by wound dressing. The function of the toe joints was good and the walking gait was normal. Partially impaired PIP joint function with limited flexion occurred in 2 cases. Based on the TAM evaluation criteria, the results were excellent in 28 digits, good in 7 digits, and the overall satisfactory rate was 94.6%.@*Conclusions@#The modified Reading man flap can get good clinical effects for treatment of the digit and toe dorsal skin defect with the advantages of simple procedure, easy transfer and direct closure of donor sites. Flaps appearance and joints function can get good result postoperatively.

Effects of taurine on reperfusion injury.

Taurine is an organic acid, which has a very important function in the human body. Recently, the antioxidant property of taurine has been much emphasised. In this study, the gracilis muscle flap model was used to investigate the effect of taurine in ischaemia/reperfusion injury in rats. Totally 32 Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into two groups: control group (n = 16) and the treatment group with taurine (n = 16). After elevation of the gracilis muscle flap, 4 h of ischaemia was performed in both groups. Thirty min before the reperfusion, taurine (200 mg kg(-1)) was injected intravenously. After 24 h of reperfusion, the amount of malondialdehyde (MDA), tissue water content and flap viability were evaluated. After 72 h of reperfusion, histological findings were evaluated. Amount of MDA and tissue water content were significantly lower (p < 0.005), and the flap viability was significantly higher (p < 0.005) in the treatment group 24 h after reperfusion. On comparing the outcomes of histological analysis between control and treatment groups, the amounts of collagen, fibroblast and angiogenesis in treatment group were significantly higher than those in the control group. However, the amount of polymorphonuclear leucocyte and tissue necrosis in the treatment group were significantly lower than in the control group. Our results showed that taurine played an important role in the process of ischaemia/reperfusion injury and presented certain protective effects with the improvement in flap survival after ischaemia/reperfusion injury.

Damage control of severe limb(finger) with multiple injuries / 中华显微外科杂志

Objective To explore the strategy of damage control in clinic treatment of severe limb (finger) with multiple injuries.Methods Severe multiple injuries patients with ISS evaluation more than 16 points were chosen for this study.Simple replatations of severed limb(finger) were perfored in 40 patients while their multiple injuries were actively treated.Results Among the 40 cases, all cases survived.1-3 years follow-up showed that the results were excellet in 8, good in 21, middle in 7, and poor in 4, with an excellent or good rate of 72.5 percent.Conclusion Multiple specialties cooperation, early treatment of multiple injuries and experienced microsurgery operation are the keys to improve success rate of replantation of severed limb(linger) with multiple injuries.

Expression and significance of alpha-smooth muscle actin in the traumatic neuroma / 中华骨科杂志

0.05) except for the positive reaction in the smooth muscle cells of the small vascular walls. While in the symptomatic group, significant expression of ?-SMA was observed besides the expression in the smooth muscle cells of the small blood vessels, and the positive fields were mainly located in the cellular plasm. The positive fields were diffusely distributed between the proliferous nerve fibers and collagen tissues most of which showed the streak or linear shapes together with some dot like expression figures. The difference of the expression level among the three groups was significant(F=289.534, P0.05). Correlation analysis indicated that the expression level of ?-SMA was positively correlated with the scale of the pain assessed by means of a 10 point visual analogue scale (VAS)(rs =0.980,P