[Use of Harmonic blade in face lifting]. / Apport de l'ultracision dans les liftings cervico-faciaux.

INTRODUCTION: Rapid recovery and return to social activities are what every patient wishes when considering to undergo a face lifting procedure. In our practice, the use of the Harmonic scalpel in order to achieve this goal has greatly improved the postoperative period. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We have performed 920 face lifting procedures exclusively using the Harmonic scalpel from 2001 to May 2017. RESULTS: A retrospective chart review was performed. Mean operative time was 110minutes for facelift involving SMAS plication only, and 180minutes for facelift involving SMAS plication with the addition of submental approach for anterior platysma plasty. Return to normal social life was achieved on the 8th postoperative day for the majority of cases. CONCLUSION: The use of the Harmonic scalpel, once properly integrated in the face lifting procedure, significantly reduces postoperative ecchymosis and oedema and allows a prompt return to normal social life.

The Pruitt-Inahara carotid shunt as an assisting tool to anastomose the arterial free flap pedicle to the internal carotid artery in the vessel-depleted neck.

Microvascular free tissue transfer in head and neck reconstruction requires suitable recipient vessels which are frequently compromised by prior surgery or radiotherapy to the neck. This article details a new technique of arterial free flap pedicle anastomosis to the internal carotid artery in a vessel-depleted neck. A 63-year-old female was referred because of recurrence of squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue, which involved the left-sided tongue base and pharynx with circumferential involvement of the homolateral external carotid artery. This artery and its branches were excluded as potential recipients. To close the defect after tumor excision, a free vertical rectus abdominis muscle arterial flap pedicle was anastomosed to the homolateral internal carotid artery with the help of a Pruitt-Inahara outlying carotid shunt. The venous anastomosis was performed to the internal jugular vein. The VRAM flap survived without complications. This procedure is to be considered an alternative rescue technique for salvage reconstruction in vessel depleted necks.

Closed platysmotomy: a new procedure for the treatment of platysma bands without skin dissection.

Platysma muscular bands are present during the aging period, generally starting in the second half of the fourth decade of life in both sexes. One or two bands along the anterior segment of the neck are the most frequent, with varied extensions and appearances. The literature records different techniques for solving the problem of platysma bands. All the methods involve submental incision, cutaneous dissection, and various tactics for eliminating the action of the platysma bands. This report aims to describe a procedure for deactivating these bands using a percutaneous approach that eliminates the need for submental, cutaneous incision and dissection. This technique involves the use of a steel wire loop that encircles the platysma band and is connected to a device known as the platysmotome through two puncture holes in the skin. Three to six sections along each band eliminate the platysma band, leaving no visible marks on the skin. This method is indicated as an isolated procedure for patients with visible platysma bands and no skin flaccidity, patients with recurring bands after face-lifting and no cervical skin flaccidity, patients who have bands with little cervical skin flaccidity but do not care to undergo face-lifting, and patients who undergo face-lifts for platysma bands that include closed platysmotomy and tightening of the platysma by lateral suture. The described technique is a method specifically designed for deactivation of the platysma bands that can be used both in isolation and in conjunction with face-lifting. Because this method avoids submental, cervical incision and dissection, it is a less invasive technique for "deleting" the bands, whether applied alone or in association with face-lifting. From May 2008 to November 2009 (19 months), 61 patients underwent surgery for the correction of platysma bands via percutaneous myotomy. Among them, the first 11 patients received postoperative follow-up evaluation ranging from 8 to 17 months.

Atlantal lateral mass screws for posterior spinal reconstruction: technical note and case series.

OBJECT: A variety of techniques may be used to achieve fixation of the upper cervical spine. Transarticular atlantoaxial screws, posterior interspinous cable and graft constructs, and interlaminar clamps have been used effectively to achieve atlantoaxial fixation. Various anatomical factors, however, may preclude the successful application of these techniques. These factors include aberrant vertebral artery anatomy, irreducible atlantoaxial subluxation, exaggerated cervicothoracic kyphosis, and the absence of the osseous substrate for fixation. In these cases, an alternative method of fixation must be performed. The authors present an alternative method to achieve fixation of the atlas in which lateral mass screws can be applied to atlantoaxial and occipitocervical fixation. METHODS: Between February 1998 and November 2001, eight patients who ranged in age from 16 to 74 years underwent posterior fixation for upper cervical instability. Diagnoses included C-2 metastastic disease in two patients, irreducible odontoid fractures in two patients, atlantoaxial subluxation in two patients, and transverse ligament synovial cyst in two patients. Various anatomical factors precluded transarticular atlantoaxial screw fixation in seven patients. One patient with a highly unstable spine due to a C-2 metastasis and pathological fracture underwent occipitocervical fusion. Atlantocervical fixation was achieved in seven patients by using varying constructs incorporating C-1 lateral mass screws. Occipitocervical fixation was achieved in one patient by incorporating C-1 lateral mass screws as an additional fixation point. A total of 14 C-1 lateral mass screws were placed in eight patients. There were no intraoperative complications. In all patients rigid fixation was achieved as demonstrated on postoperative radiographs. One patient died on postoperative Day 9 of aspiration pneumonia. At a mean follow-up time of 7.4 months, rigid fixation was maintained in all patients. CONCLUSIONS: Atlantal lateral mass screws can be used to provide a safe and efficacious means of achieving atlantoaxial fixation when anatomical constraints preclude the use of a more traditional procedure. Atlantal lateral mass screws may also be incorporated in occipitocervical constructs to provide additional fixation points which may prevent construct failure.

[Pullout test in expansive unilateral open-door laminoplasty of the cervical spine with OsteoMed M3 plate and screws: the screw orientation matters].

OBJECTIVE: To study the impact of screw orientation on the pullout strength of OsteoMed M3 titanium screws in expansive unilateral open-door laminoplasty of the cervical spine. METHODS: Six fresh human cervical spine specimens were randomly numbered and OsteoMed M3 plate and screws were used for an expansive unilateral open-door laminoplasty. The screws were inserted in the lateral mass at different extraversion angles (0°, 30° and 45°). The maximum pullout strength was tested on the ElectroForce material testing machine. RESULTS: The maximum pullout strength was 81.60∓7.33 N, 150.05∓15.57 N, and 160.08∓17.77 N in extraversion angle 0°, 30°, and 45° groups, respectively. The maximum pullout strength was significantly less in extraversion angle 0° group than in 30° and 45° groups (P<0.05), but similar in the latter two groups. CONCLUSION: The pullout strength of the screws inserted at an extraversion angle over 30° provides stronger fixation than an angle of 0° in the unilateral open-door laminoplasty using OsteoMed M3 titanium plate and screws.

[Pedicled and free flaps for reconstruction in the head-neck region]. / Gestielte und freie Lappen zur Rekonstruktion des Kopf-Hals-Bereiches.

For reconstruction in the head-neck region, either pedicled or free flaps can be used depending on the site of origin and the place of reconstruction. Pedicled flaps have definite limitations, therefore, free transplants are becoming continuously more popular. Today, microvascular reanastomosed transplants are those most commonly used in reconstructive head-neck surgery. In this contribution, we present and explain the most important types of flaps and their indications.

Teleconsultation with the mobile camera-phone in digital soft-tissue injury: a feasibility study.

The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of teleconsultation using a mobile camera-phone to evaluate the severity of digital soft-tissue injury and to triage the injury with regard to management recommendations. With a built-in 110,000-pixel digital camera, pictures of the injured digit(s) or radiograph were taken by surgical residents in the emergency room and transmitted to another camera-phone to be viewed by the remote consultant surgeon. A brief medical and trauma history of each patient was relayed also by mobile phone. The consultant surgeon then reviewed all of these patients in the emergency room shortly after the initial telemedicine referral. Separate triaging for each digital injury into three groups was recorded during remote teleconsultation and according to actual treatment by the attending surgeon as follows: group I, the injury could be managed with conservative treatment, such as secondary intention wound healing, or primary closure with or without bone shortening; group II, skin grafting or local flap coverage was required for management of the injury; and group III, microsurgery such as replantation or free flap coverage was necessary to deal with the injury. Later, triaging was also performed individually by three junior plastic residents according to image review and patient referral information. Teleconsultation through a mobile camera-phone was performed for 45 patients with injuries of 81 digits from January to May of 2003. Of these 81 digital injuries, there were 12 cases (15 percent) where disagreement of triaging occurred between the teleconsultation and the actual treatment by the attending surgeon. In image reviewing, there was 79 percent sensitivity and 71 percent specificity in remote diagnosis of the skin defect and 76 percent sensitivity and 75 percent specificity in remote identification of the bone exposure regarding the concordance of opinions of all three surgeons; there was significant discordance in triaging in 20 cases (25 percent), and the difference in triaging was partly attributed to the inability to show instances of tiny exposed digital bone or tendon in some cases under the low-resolution digital image and the situation of a bloody oozing wound. In some cases, the difficulty in evaluating the probability of primary closure of severely avulsed skin edges or the probability of executing replantation for finger amputation also contributed to different triaging outcomes. Two neglected diagnoses of transected digital nerves were found and influenced triaging, highlighting the importance of on-site physical examination during teleconsultation. The telemedicine system using a mobile camera-phone based on the global system for mobile communication is feasible and valuable for early diagnosis and triaging of digital soft-tissue injury in emergency cases, with on-line verbal communication and review of the transmitted captured image. This system has the advantages of ease of use, low cost, high portability, and mobility. With advances in hardware for digital imaging and transmission technology and the development of the third-generation advanced mobile phone system in the foreseeable future, this system has potential for future applications in telemedicine and telecare.