Management of severe pelvic fracture associated with injuries of adjacent viscera

everepelvicfractureassociatedwithinjuriesofadjacentviscerahasahighmortality .Thefirst”goldenhour”aftertraumashouldbegrasped ,sincethemanagementinthishourcandeterminegreatlywhetherthecritically injuredvictimcouldsurvive .Inthispaper ,theexperienceintheemergencymanagementofsuch patientsisreviewedinordertoimprovethetherapeuticoutcome .METHODSSeventyninepatientswithseverepelvicfractureassociatedwithinjuriesofadjacentvisceratreatedinourDepartmentfromJanuary 1990toDecember 2 0 0 3werereviewedr…     

Three centuries of surgery at Colţea Hospital

The authors present the evolution of surgery at Col?ea Hospital during the last three centuries. After a brief history of the Col?ea hospital and its masters surgeons, the attention is drawn on the masters efforts to optimize the care, equipment and surgery techniques, things that became of national and world-wide importance.     

Management of severe hand wounds with Integra® dermal regeneration template

We report our experience with the use of Integra? for the management of severe traumatic wounds of the hand. Fifteen patients were treated with follow-up ranging from 10 to 37 months. Wounds were associated with an osseous and/or joint and/or tendon exposure. Following Integra? placement, patients were managed with dressings and subsequent split-thickness skin grafting an average of 26 days later. Integra? was successful in achieving durable, functional and aesthetic definitive coverage in 13 of 15 applications while allowing a satisfying pollicidigital prehension. Regarding our clinical experience, Integra? is an effective technique to deal with severe wounds of the hand with exposed tendon and/or bone and/or joint, even in the absence of paratenon or periosteum. This can potentially lessen the need for local rotational or free flap coverage and should be taken into consideration as a viable alternative in traumatic reconstruction of the hand.     

Management of isolated and complex craniosynostosis residual deformities: What are the maxillofacial tools?

Treatment of craniosynostosis is complex and has greatly progressed in recent decades. From the early stages in the 1950s to today's most recent techniques, surgeons have faced the challenge of overcoming the deformities often caused by such invasive, complex surgeries. In the most recent years, new techniques have been developed that address surgical sequelae, including those of surgery performed in childhood. After a general introduction on craniosynostosis, the present paper describes the various types of deformity that may result from complex surgery and offers an overview of the various tools available to surgeons. An explanation of each indication and procedure is given.     

Management of forearm deformities with ulnar shortening more than 15 mm caused by hereditary multiple osteochondromas

Background

Treatment for forearm deformities caused by hereditary multiple osteochondromas is still controversial. The purpose of the study was to describe the outcome of treatment with the combined use of ulnar lengthening and excision of osteochondromas.

Methods

Fourteen patients with hereditary multiple osteochondromas had forearm deformities which belongs to type I Masada deformity. The mean relative ulnar shortening was 19.9 mm (range, 16–23). All patients ranging from 4 to 15 years old had operative treatment. Clinical evaluation involving the assessment of pain, activities of daily living, and range of motion of the wrist and forearm was performed. The radiographic evaluation was relative ulnar shortening (RUS), radial articular angle (RAA), carpal slip (CS), and radial bowing. Besides, we also evaluated the amount of ulnar lengthening, external fixation time, and external fixation index.

Results

The mean EFT was 101 days (range, 84–133), and the mean external fixation index was 44.4 days/cm (range, 33.6–51.2). During the mean 43.1 months follow-up, four patients had mild pain and two patients had mild restriction of daily activities. The rotation of forearm and motion of wrist had increased except in Case 3. The RAA, CS, and radial bowing had been improved except in Case 6 and 7. In all patients, relative ulnar shortening had been corrected. According to the functional evaluation criteria recommended by Krimmer, there were ten excellent and four good.

Conclusions

The combined use of ulna lengthening and excision of osteochondromas is a proper and effective treatment method to the type I Masada deformity with the relative ulnar shortening more than 15 mm.     

Single-stage closing–opening wedge osteotomy of spine to correct severe post-tubercular kyphotic deformities of the spine: a 3-year follow-up of 17 patients

The correction of severe post-tubercular kyphosis (PTK) is complex and has the disadvantage of being multiple staged with a high morbidity. Here, we describe the procedure and results of closing–opening osteotomy for correction of PTK which shortens the posterior column and opens the anterior column appropriately to correct the deformity without altering the length of the spinal cord. Seventeen patients with PTK (10 males; 7 females) with an average age of 18.3 ± 10.6 years (range 4–40 years) formed the study group. There were ten thoracolumbar, one lumbar and six thoracic deformities. The number of vertebrae involved ranged from 2 to 5 (average 2.8). Preoperative kyphosis averaged 69.2° ± 25.1° (range 42°–104°) which included ten patients with deformity greater than 60°. The average vertebral body loss was 2.01 ± 0.79 (range 1.1–4.1). The neurological status was normal in 13 patients, Frankel’s grade D in three patients and grade C in one. Posterior stabilization with pedicle screw instrumentation was followed by a preoperatively calculated wedge resection. Anterior column reconstruction was performed using rib grafts in four, tricortical iliac bone graft in five, cages in six, and bone chips alone and fibular graft in one patient each. Average operating time was 280 min (200–340 min) with an average blood loss of 820 ml (range 500–1,600 ml). The postoperative kyphosis averaged 32.4° ± 19.5° (range 8°–62°). The percentage correction of kyphosis achieved was 56.8 ± 14.6% (range 32–83%). No patient with normal preoperative neurological status showed deterioration in neurology after surgery. The last follow-up was at an average of 43 ± 4 months (range 32–64 months). The average loss of correction at the last follow-up was 5.4° (range 3°–9°). At the last follow-up, the mean preoperative pain visual analogue scale score decreased significantly from 9.2 (range 8–10 points) to 1.5 (range 1–2 points). There was also a significant decrease in mean preoperative Oswestry’s Disability Index from 56.4 (range 46–68) to 10.6 (range 6–15). Complications were superficial wound infections in two, neurological deterioration in one, temporary jaundice in one and implant failure requiring revision in one. Single-stage closing–opening wedge osteotomy is an effective method to correct severe PTK. The procedure has the advantage of being a posterior only, single-stage correction, which allows for significant correction with minimal complications.     

Changing pattern of major lower limb amputations in Seinäjoki Central Hospital 1997-2000

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: There is rather limited recent information on major amputations in Finland. Our objective was to describe the incidence of major lower limb amputations in a defined central hospital, the demographic characteristics of the amputees, diagnosis and situations leading to amputation, level of amputations and survival of the amputees after one year. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective study was undertaken on 156 patients with 169 lower limb major amputations from 1997 to 2000 at the Sein?joki Central Hospital and Aht?ri District Hospital. RESULTS: The annual incidence of major amputations reduced from 29.5 to 15.2/100000 inhabitants. The mean age of the patients was 78.5 years but highest 80.1 in the year 2000. The reason for major amputation was chronic critical leg ischaemia with or without diabetes mellitus in 79.1% and acute ischaemia in 13.9%. The average below-knee (BK)/above-knee (AK) amputation ratio was 0.80 during the years 1997-1999 and the ratio was lowest 0.67 in year 2000. At the same year 2000 the amount of patients, whose condition was too poor for reconstructive surgery, was significantly higher than in 1997-1999. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that BK/AK amputation ratio is decreasing in the future as the amputees tend more often to be institutionalized and immobile, and reconstruction is not an alternative and BK amputation is impossible or useless.     

Seven years of cochlear implant at the ENT Clinic of "Recuperare" Hospital Iaşi

This paper presents our Cochlear Implant Departments results from the beginning until present time. Our implant list contains 161 candidates. The enlisted was made based on the criteria's for implant candidates' selection and we have implanted already 17 of them (11 children and 6 adults). Surgical interventions were done according to standard procedure - the approach being through mastoidectomy and posterior tympanotomy. We discuss the results obtained with cochlear implantation in each case. The outline idea is that the cochlear implant was a good choice in all our implanted cases and the patients had achieved at least the performances predicted before implantation for every particular situation.     

The epidemiological profile of the Vascular Birthmark Clinic at the Alberta Children’s Hospital

BACKGROUND:

The Vascular Birthmark (VBM) Clinic at the Alberta Children’s Hospital (Calgary, Alberta) is a multidisciplinary clinic dedicated to the evaluation of children with vascular anomalies.

OBJECTIVE:

To review the characteristics of patients seen at the VBM Clinic.

METHOD:

A retrospective data analysis of all pediatric patients presenting to the VBM Clinic between 1998 and 2009 was performed. Data including demographic, referring, diagnostic and treatment information were obtained from the clinic’s database.

RESULTS:

Of 932 patients, 621 with hemangiomas and 311 patients with vascular malformations were found in the database. Hemangiomas were more commonly found in girls (68.5%), and most commonly located on the head and neck (54%), with most patients (72.6%) having only one lesion. Of the patients with hemangiomas, 14.7% underwent diagnostic imaging investigation and 23.7% received treatment including medications, surgery, pulsed-dye laser or dressings. The sex distribution among the 311 patients with vascular malformations was almost equal. Venous malformations accounted for 38.9% of patients, isolated capillary malformations for 31.5%, lymphatic malformations for 11.6%, mixed low-flow malformations for 14.8% and arteriovenous malformations for 2.9%. Overall, 37.9% of patients underwent diagnostic imaging investigation and 42.4% received treatment – either pulsed-dye laser, surgical excision, sclerotherapy or other treatment.

CONCLUSIONS:

Hemangiomas and vascular malformations can occur at any anatomical site. There is a large variation in clinical presentation necessitating expertise in a variety of diagnostic approaches and treatment modalities. Vascular anomalies are best managed in a multidisciplinary setting.