Islanded facial artery osteomyomucosal/osseous flap in head and neck reconstruction

A local pedicled vascularized bone flap can prevent the morbidity and cost of free bone flap surgery in small segmental bone defects or long cartilaginous defects of the head and neck. Such flaps can also be useful in patients who are high risk for surgery. The periosteal vascularity of the mandible can be used to design islanded facial artery-based bone flaps, which can be utilized to that extent. Two patients with a small segmental mandibulectomy defect and one patient with a long cricotracheal resection defect underwent reconstruction using three different designs of islanded facial artery osteomyomucosal/osseous flap (iFOMM). The patients had a minimum follow-up period of 18 months. All flaps were successful, with satisfactory healing and without any functional deficit or disease at last follow-up.     

会阴Ⅲ～Ⅳ度裂伤及特殊裂伤的预防和处理

会阴Ⅲ～Ⅳ度裂伤是阴道分娩的严重并发症，由于裂伤累及肛门括约肌复合体和（或）肛门黏膜，又称为产科相关肛门括约肌损伤（OASIS），是导致产后肛门失禁最常见的原因，严重影响生活质量。阴道分娩后准确评估会阴裂伤程度并及时修复解剖结构对恢复肛门括约肌功能、改善预后至关重要；但临床实践中隐匿性OASIS有时被漏诊，不能及时识别、修复或愈合不良等，可导致会阴-直肠瘘或直肠-阴道瘘。需要加强预防和管理会阴Ⅲ～Ⅳ度裂伤，恰当运用质量管理工具，分析导致OASIS的风险因素和关键环节，从妊娠期和产程管理、助产能力提升、风险评估、预防和治疗等关键环节着手，减少或避免OASIS发生，提升识别和修复OASIS的能力。     

Effects of the loss and reconstruction of molar occlusal support on memory retrieval and hippocampal neuron density in rats

PurposeAnimal experiments have shown that the loss of occlusal support causes impairments in spatial cognition. Many reports have focused on the memory encoding process, and only few studies have investigated the effect on memory retrieval. This study aimed to examine the effects of both the loss and reconstruction of occlusal support on the memory retrieval process and on the number of hippocampal pyramidal cells.MethodsThe experimental animals were divided into a molarless group, in which molars were extracted, a denture-wearing molarless group with experimental dentures inserted after molar extraction, and a control group. Radial maze trials were performed for 20 consecutive days (acquisition phase). The rats were tested on long-term memory retention following the acquisition phase in eight trials every five days, and in an additional trial 20 days later (probe phase).ResultsThe denture-wearing molarless group showed higher levels of spatial learning and memory than the molarless group. There were no significant differences in memory retrieval during the probe phase between the denture-wearing molarless and the control group. The molarless group showed significantly worse spatial learning and memory and had fewer neurons in the hippocampus than the control group.ConclusionsOur results suggest that the loss of occlusal support decreases the number of pyramidal cells in the hippocampus and impairs memory decoding and retrieval. However, this effect is suppressed by the reconstruction of occlusal support.     

Airway management in children with cleft palate and/or micrognathia

Cleft lip and/or palate is the commonest congenital craniofacial abnormality affecting approximately 1 in 700 newborns each year. It comprises of a heterogenous group of disorders affecting facial growth and cosmesis, that are associated with increased risk of airway obstruction, sleep disordered breathing (SDB), glue ear and chronic ear disease, feeding difficulties, and failure to thrive (FTT). Cleft palate (CP) can be accompanied by an abnormally undersized jaw, known as micrognathia; although micrognathia can also be found in isolation. The craniofacial abnormalities found in these children can lead to a reduction in airway size due to the tongue falling backwards. The risk of airway obstruction ranges from intermittent airway collapse during sleep (obstructive sleep apnoea, OSA) to potentially life-threatening airway compromise necessitating intubation or a tracheostomy. This paper sets out to describe the pathophysiology of airway compromise in these children, recognising clinical symptoms and appropriate referral strategy, as well as a broad range of management options.     

“One-piece” patient-specific reconstruction plate for double-barrel fibula-based mandibular reconstruction

Segmental mandibular defects require reconstruction. The fibula flap serves as a versatile flap in restoring mandibular contour and bony height. With the advances in computer-aided design and additive manufacturing technology, an innovative “one-piece” patient-specific reconstruction plate to facilitate double-barrel fibula flap shaping and bone securing was developed; the plate is described in this study. The “one-piece” plate is fabricated with individualized specifications and is mainly composed of three components: the long-bar reconstruction plate, a short-bar plate, and connecting bars. Our initial experiences showed that mandibular reconstructive surgery was greatly facilitated by the “one-piece” reconstruction plate for double-barrel fibula flap reconstruction and achieved satisfactory outcomes. A well-designed clinical trial is required to confirm the superiority of the “one-piece” reconstruction plate in the future. ClinicalTrials.gov registration: NCT03057223.     

地塞米松不同给药途径对下颌阻生第三磨牙拔除术后的疗效观察

目的:评价地塞米松不同给药途径(冠周局部注射和口服)在预防下颌阻生第三磨牙拔除术后肿胀、疼痛及张口受限中的疗效。方法:对480例患者的下颌阻生第三磨牙根据阻生类型进行分组(高位、中位、低位),每组中再分为实验组(拔牙术后局部注射地塞米松)和对照组(拔牙术后口服地塞米松),对患者术后第1、3、7天进行随访分析,对患者肿胀指数、疼痛程度和张口受限程度进行统计分析。结果:在拔牙术后第1天和第7天,高位组、中位组和低位组中的实验组与对照组在肿胀指数、疼痛程度和张口受限程度方面比较差异无统计学意义(P>0.05);术后第3天,高位组和中位组中的实验组与对照组在肿胀指数、疼痛程度和张口受限程度差异无统计学意义(P>0.05),低位组中的实验组与对照组相比,在肿胀反应中具有更好的预防效果(P<0.05),在疼痛程度和张口受限程度中具有一定的缓解效果(P>0.05)。结论:下颌阻生第三磨牙拔除术后,冠周局部给予地塞米松能够防治和减轻术后肿胀、疼痛以及张口受限的发生。