When should patients begin ambulating following lower limb split skin graft surgery? A systematic review

Pretibial lacerations and lower limb wounds are referred to plastic surgery teams for split skin graft surgery. Traditionally, these patients have been immobilised on bedrest following surgery. More recently, patients have commenced ambulation earlier to avoid medical complications and facilitate discharge. The objective of this literature review was to determine when such patients should begin walking. A literature search was undertaken using the electronic databases AMED, Cinahl, Embase, Medline (via Ovid), PEDro and Pubmed. Clinical trials using human subjects, written in English, were included. Seventeen (of 1137) papers met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. The literature suggested that patients should begin walking immediately or at the earliest possible opportunity after lower limb skin graft surgery. Although the literature advocated early ambulation, the evidence base presented with a number of recurrent methodological limitations, including small sample sizes, lack of a control sample, and limited follow-up. Accordingly, further research employing large, well-designed, randomised controlled trials is recommended. It will then be possible to understand with greater certainty when patients should begin walking after lower extremity split skin graft surgery.     

Skin problems after a tsunami

BACKGROUND: On December 26, 2004, the biggest earthquake for 40 years, measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale, triggered a tsunami that pounded the coastal areas of South Asia and East Africa. The effects of the tsunami on skin conditions have not been evaluated. OBJECTIVE: To determine the influence of the tsunami on skin conditions by evaluating the skin problems of patients presenting at hospitals after the tsunami. METHODS: Between 5 and 25 January 2005, two dermatologists evaluated patients who complained of skin problems at an outpatient clinic and emergency room of a general hospital in Banda Aceh, Aceh Province, Indonesia. RESULTS: The total number of patients that presented during the study period was 235 (131 males and 104 females), and they had a total of 265 skin problems. In terms of age distribution, most subjects were in their fourth decade (23.0%), followed by the third (22.6%) and fifth decade (16.6%). The most prevalent skin problems were infections-infestations (32.5%), followed by eczemas (29.8%) and traumatic skin disorders (29.4%). In males, traumatic skin disorders were most common. The great majority of infection-infestation cases involved superficial fungal infections. Contact dermatitis accounted for three-quarters of eczema cases, and mainly involved the arms (40.0%) and legs (27.1%). The majority of traumatic skin disorders were lacerations, punctures and penetrations, and the feet (44.7%) and hands (18.8%) were most frequently affected. CONCLUSIONS: Unhygienic conditions, exposure to a hazardous environment and contact with various objects during and after the tsunami probably increased the prevalence of infections-infestations, traumatic skin disorders and contact dermatitis. To prevent these problems and associated secondary bacterial infections, health-related education and early medical management are required.     

High-resolution optical coherence tomography as a non-destructive monitoring tool for the engineering of skin equivalents

BACKGROUND: Three dimensional skin equivalents are widely used in dermatopharmacological and toxicological studies and as autologous transplants in wound healing. In pharmacology, there is tremendous need for monitoring the response of engineered skin equivalents to external treatment. Transplantation of skin equivalents for wound healing requires careful verification of their quality prior to transplantation. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-contact, non-destructive imaging technique for living tissues offering the potential to fulfill these needs. This work presents an analysis of OCT for high-resolution monitoring of skin equivalents at different stages during the culture process. METHODS: We developed a high-resolution OCT imaging setup based on a commercially available OCT system. A broadband femtosecond laser light source replaces the original superluminescence diode. Tomograms of living skin equivalents were recorded with an axial resolution of 3 mum and correlated with histology and immunofluorescence images. Comparison with standard low-resolution OCT is presented to emphasize the advantages of high-resolution OCT for this application. RESULTS: OCT is particularly able to distinguish between different layers of skin equivalents including stratum corneum, epidermal and dermal layer as well as the basement membrane zone. The high-resolution OCT scans correlate closely with two key benchmarks, histology and immunofluorescence imaging. CONCLUSIONS: This study clearly demonstrates the benefits of high-resolution OCT for identifying living tissue structure and morphology. Compared with the current gold standard histology, OCT offers non-destructive tissue imaging, enabling high-resolution evaluation of living tissue morphology and structure as it evolves.     

Development of a new sensor based on micro-electro-mechanical systems for objective in vivo measurement of the cutaneous temperature: application to foundations

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The purpose of this work was to develop a new sensor for objective in vivo measurement of the cutaneous temperature based on micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), and to compare these performances with those of a classical thermocouple. Research on this new sensor was carried out to allow the quantification of the thermal properties of the made-up skin. METHODS: Sixteen female subjects divided into two different age groups (18-35 and >50 years old) were recruited for this study. Several zones of the face and forearms were made up at random with foundations containing or not a thermoregulator raw material. The quantity of foundation applied on the skin was standardized and measurements were carried out first before make-up, and then 10 s and 5 min after make-up. The new sensor and the thermocouple were used successively on each zone. The cutaneous temperature was expressed in degrees celsius. RESULTS/CONCLUSION: The two systems are similar in terms of repeatability and reproducibility, with some differences in sensibility. The data measured by the MEMS sensor appear lower than those measured by the thermocouple. After make-up, the MEMS sensor detects a progressive increase of the temperature in time whereas the thermocouple detects a decrease. We found the same evolution on the face but in a more attenuated way. These results tend to show that the devices do not measure the same phenomenon. The thermocouple appears more sensitive to the thermal response of the made-up surface whereas the MEMS sensor appears more sensitive to the heat transfers in the interface between the skin and make-up.     

应用组织芯片技术研究光暴露皮肤与非光暴露皮肤中PCNA的表达

目的:比较光暴露与非光暴露皮肤中增殖细胞抗原的表达。方法:组织芯片按文献报道方法制备,用免疫组化链霉素亲和素-生物素法(Streptavidin-Peroxidase SP法)检测,一抗为1:100鼠抗人单克隆抗体。结果:36例光暴露皮肤组织中14例(38.9%)阳性;19例非光老化皮肤中18例(94.7%)阳性(χ2=4.2,P<0.01)。结论:光暴露部位皮肤组织PCNA蛋白表达较非光暴露部位皮肤组织表达明显减少。日光对细胞增殖因子的表达起抑制作用。推测日光对皮肤组织的增生能力有阻滞作用,加速皮肤老化。     

皮瓣展平法在耳廓再造时扩张皮瓣感染中的应用

目的探索耳廓再造时扩张皮瓣感染的处理方法。方法分析中国协和医科大学整形外科医院外耳冉造中心2003年1月～2005年12月耳廓再造时耳后扩张皮瓣发生感染，经皮瓣展平法处理，感染控制后进行耳再造的12例（12耳）患者的治疗情况。结果12例（12耳）患者手术顺利，术后恢复好，再造耳效果与无感染者无明显差异。结论皮瓣展平法是耳廓再造时扩张皮瓣感染较理想的处理方法。     

光子嫩肤仪配合激光治疗皮肤光老化疗效的观察

目的 探讨光子嫩肤仪配合755nm激光治疗皮肤光老化的疗效。方法 根据皮肤光老化者的肤质及疗效调节治疗方案，光子及激光交替进行治疗，每例治疗5次或5次以上。在治疗前和完成疗程后，由主治医师和接受治疗者共同对疗效做出评价。结果 本组178例，经治疗皮肤光老化症状均有不同程度改善，其中以肤色、毛细血管扩张、皮肤质地改善最为明显。临床观察表明，只要选择合适参数及完成疗程，治疗效果明显。结论 光子嫩肤仪配合755nm激光治疗皮肤光老化，是改善光老化表现的有效方法，并且比其他有损伤性治疗发生的合并症少，安全有效。     

Antiproliferative, cytotoxic and apoptogenic activity of Indian toad (Bufo melanostictus, Schneider) skin extract on U937 and K562 cells.

The antiproliferative, cytotoxic and apoptogenic activities of Bufo melanostictus (Indian common toad) skin extract (TSE) on U937 and K562 leukemic cell line has been investigated. TSE significantly (P<0.001) reduced the time-dependent cell proliferation and decreased MTT values in U937 and K562 cells. TSE (IC50 doses) suppressed the proliferating cell nuclear antigen expression in both the cells. It was demonstrated that, TSE (IC50 doses) primarily arrested the U937 and K562 cells at G1 phase of the cell cycle. Confocal microscopy showed the altered fragmented nuclei and apoptotic bodies formation in TSE (IC50 doses) treated U937 and K562 cells. Membrane blebbing, cell surface shrinkage and perforation were observed through scanning electron microscope. TSE-induced DNA fragmentation in U937 and K562 cells was reflected in single-cell gel electrophoresis. TSE significantly (P<0.001) increase the length-width ratio of DNA mass as compared to control in comet assay. The flow cytometric analysis of annexin-V binding to the cancer cells further supported the apoptotogenic activity of TSE. The effect of TSE on normal human peripheral blood mononuclear cells viability and cytotoxicity was studied in culture and found to be less cytotoxic than on the U937 and K562 cells. The findings from the present study suggested that TSE might possess potent antineoplastic agent having antiproliferative, cytotoxic and apoptogenic activity against U937 and K562 myeloid leukemic cells.     

带隐神经交腿随意皮瓣修复足底皮肤缺损

目的 报道用带隐神经的小腿内侧带蒂随意皮瓣修复对侧足底皮肤缺损的临床效果。方法 在健侧小腿内侧隐神经走行区设计皮瓣，将隐神经保留在皮瓣中央，根据患足创面大小切取皮瓣，带深筋膜，蒂保留在胫前侧，将皮瓣缝合于患足的创面，皮瓣中的隐神经与患足足底内侧皮神经吻合，双下肢固定3周后断蒂。1997～2001年，临床应用13例。结果 用该皮瓣修复13例足底皮肤缺损均获得成功，皮瓣外形良好，术后6～12个月恢复感觉，无再破溃发生。结论 带隐神经交腿随意皮瓣切取简单，厚薄适度，不损伤知名血管，术后带感觉神经可恢复皮瓣的感觉，有效防止皮瓣再破溃。是修复足底皮肤缺损的较好方法。     

便携式多普勒血管探测仪在皮瓣移植中的应用

目的 :研究皮瓣移植前简单、可靠的血管探测的方法。方法 :在皮瓣移植前 ,以 HADECO ES-1 0 0 0 SPM多普勒血管探测仪对皮瓣血管蒂及皮动脉进行探测 ,与术中皮动脉探查结果进行比较 ,考察术前血管探测的准确性和意义。结果 :皮瓣血管蒂及皮动脉术前探测与术中探查结果完全一致。结论 :便携式血管多普勒仪是皮瓣移植前 ,简单、可靠的血管探测的仪器 ,根据探测结果进行皮瓣设计 ,有效地降低了手术失败的风险