ObjectiveTo investigate the effectiveness of delayed replantation of degloving skin preserved at 4℃ in treatment of limb degloving injuries. Methods Between October 2020 and October 2023, 12 patients with limb degloving injuries were admitted. All patients had severe associated injuries or poor wound conditions that prevented primary replantation. There were 7 males and 5 females; age ranged from 29 to 46 years, with an average of 39.2 years. The causes of injury included machine entanglement in 6 cases, traffic accidents in 5 cases, and sharp instrument cuts in 1 case. Time from injury to hospital admission was 0.5-3.0 hours, with an average of 1.3 hours. Injury sites included upper limbs in 7 cases and lower limbs in 5 cases. The range of degloving skin was from 5 cm×4 cm to 15 cm×8 cm, and all degloving skins were intact. The degloving skin was preserved at 4℃. After the patient’s vital signs became stable and the wound conditions improved, it was trimmed into medium-thickness skin grafts for replantation. The degloving skin was preserved for 3 to 7 days. At 4 weeks after replantation, the viability of the degloving skin grafts was assessed, including color, elasticity, and sensation of pain. The Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) was used to assess the scars of the skin grafts during follow-up. Results At 4 weeks after replantation, 8 cases of skin grafts completely survived and the color was similar with normal skin, with a survival rate of 66.67%. The elasticity of skin grafts (R0 value) ranged from 0.09 to 0.85, with an average of 0.55; moderate pain was reported in 4 cases, mild pain in 3 cases, and no pain in 5 cases. All patients were followed up 12 months. Over time, the VSS scores of all 12 patients gradually decreased, with a range of 4-11 at 12 months (mean, 6.8). Conclusion For limb degloving injuries that cannot be replanted immediately and do not have the conditions for deep low-temperature freezing preservation, the method of preserving the degloving skin at 4℃ for delayed replantation can be chosen.
ObjectiveTo explore the effectiveness of free lobed perforator flaps in repairing of complex wounds of limbs. Methods Between January 2018 and January 2021, 10 patients with complex wounds of limbs were admitted. There were 7 males and 3 females, aged from 32 to 64 years, with an average age of 45 years. There were 4 cases of traffic accident injuries, 3 cases of machine strangulation injuries, 1 case of machine crush injury, and 2 cases of heavy object crush injuries. There were 5 cases of upper limb wounds and 5 cases of lower limb wounds. The size of wounds ranged from 11 cm×10 cm to 25 cm×18 cm. The wounds were repaired with tri-lobed flaps of the descending branch of the lateral femoral circumflex artery in 7 cases, four-lobed flaps in 2 cases, and with tri-lobed flaps of the descending branch of the lateral femoral circumflex artery combined with oblique branch in 1 case. The size of flaps ranged from 12.0 cm×10.5 cm to 28.0 cm×12.0 cm. The donor sites were sutured directly in 9 cases and repaired with superficial iliac circumflex artery perforator flap in 1 case. ResultsSinus formed at the edge of the flap in 1 patient, which healed after dressing change and drainage; other flaps survived well, and the wounds healed by first intention. The skin flap at donor site survived, and the incisions healed by first intention. All patients were followed up 6-24 months (mean, 11 months). All flaps had good appearance and function, and linear scars were left at the donor site without obvious complications. ConclusionFree lobed perforator flap is an alternative method to repair complex wounds of limbs with high safety, good effectiveness, and less complications.
OBJECTIVE: To summarize the importance of surgical management to repair vascular injury in limbs salvage, and to analyze the influence factors in the management. METHODS: From 1993 to 2000, 42 cases of 58 vascular injuries were reviewed; there were 37 males and 5 females, aging from 12 to 70 years old. Emergency operations were performed in 38 cases and selective operations in 4 cases from 1 hour to 45 days after injury. There were 22 cases of complete rupture in 32 blood vessels, 5 cases of partial rupture in 6 blood vessels, and 15 cases of vascular defect in 20 blood vessels, with 5 cm to 10 cm defect. The operation management included end-to-end anastomosis in 22 cases, side-to-end anastomosis in 1 case, vascular repair in 5 cases and vascular grafting in 14 cases. All of the cases were followed up for 6 months to 7 years. RESULTS: In those received emergency operations, it was successful in 35 cases, with amputation in the other 3 cases; after operation, there were 5 cases of post-operative angio-crisis, 1 case of hematoma and 1 case of pseudoaneurysm. In those received selective operation, all succeeded but 1 case of post-operative angio-crisis. After the follow-up, except for 3 cases of amputation, the other limbs survived; and function of the survived limbs recovered satisfactorily after operation except poor recovery in 7 cases of replantation of the limbs. CONCLUSION: To repair vascular injury immediately, to manage angio-crisis and to remove influence factors is the key to save the injured limbs and to maintain the function of them.
Objective To explore devising and clinical effect of ladder-shaped osteotomy and guide apparatus. Methods From February 2002 to January 2004, with the application of guide apparatus devised,the ladder-shaped osteotomy was designed and completed by bone drill and linear saw. The experiment of ladder-shaped osteotomy was carried out on a fresh bone trunk amputated. Clinically, 3 cases were replanted by shortening humerus by means of laddershapedosteotomy. The lengths of bone shortened were 3 to 7 cm. The bone length of ladder-shaped osteotomy was 2 to 3 cm. Two cases of radius defect was repaired with free fibula. The lengths of bone transplanted were 7 and 11 cm. The bone length of ladder-shaped osteotomy was 1 cm. Results It took 2 to 3 minutes to complete the laddershaped osteotomy on the two ends of bone defect. The ends of ladder-shaped osteotomy was integrated closely. All 5 cases were followedup for 10 to 16 months. All fractures healed during 14 to 20 weeks. Of 3 cases shortening humerus, the function of elbow joint was normal in 1 case, the activity range of elbow joint was 0 to 100° in 1 case,and 0 to 80° in 1 case, respectively. Of 2 cases undergoing fibula transplantation, the function of wrist and elbow joint were normal;the pronation and supination ranges of the forearm was 30° and 40° in one, 50° and 45° in the other. Conclusion With the introduction of guide apparatus, the laddershaped osteotomy by bone drill and linear saw is a recommendable procedure because of many advantages such as simple apparatus, shortcut, laborsaving and precision.
Objective To repair defects at both ends of theblood vessels with a considerable disparity in the diameter of the both sides or with a large diameter in extremities by phleboplasty of branched and double autogenous veins. Methods Three kinds of phleboplasties——funnel-shaped, raincape-shaped and transposed Y-shaped were designed. Experiments in fresh blood vessels in vitro were completed successfully. These methods were used clinically to repair injured external iliac veins, femoral arteries and veins, and popliteal arteries and veins, to replant severed fingers and to transplant toenail flaps on thumbs by harvesting autogenous great saphenous veins,small saphenous veins and forearm veins in 36 cases, including 35 cases in emergency operation and 1 case in selective operation.The length of grafted blood vessels ranged from 1.0 cm to 15.0 cm. Results The phleboplasties of funnel-shaped could enlarge the diameter by 1.0-1.25 times inanastomotic stomas. The phleboplasty of raincape-shaped could enlarge the diameter large enough to meet the demands for various blood vessels in extremities. The phleboplasty of transposed Y-shaped could provide large vein transplants. In36 grafted veins, 35 were in patency. The blood supply in extremities was normal.ConclusionThe funnel-shaped and raincape-shaped phleboplasties of branched veins can enlarge the anastomotic stomas of grafted veins. The transposed Y-shaped phleboplasty of double femoral veins is an ideal way to repair injured primaryblood vessels with a considerable disparity in the diameter of the both sides or with a large diameter in extremities.
ObjectiveTo establish a forecasting model for inpatient cases of pediatric limb fractures and predict the trend of its variation.MethodsAccording to inpatient cases of pediatric limb fractures from January 2013 to December 2018, this paper analyzed its characteristics and established the seasonal auto-regressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model to make a short-term quantitative forecast.ResultsA total of 4 451 patients, involving 2 861 males and 1 590 females were included. The ratio of males to females was 1.8 to 1, and the average age was 5.655. There was a significant difference in age distribution between males and females (χ2=44.363, P<0.001). The inpatient cases of pediatric limb fractures were recorded monthly, with predominant peak annually, from April to June and September to October, respectively. Using the data of the training set from January 2013 to May 2018, a SARIMA model of SARIMA (0,1,1)(0,1,1)12 model (white noise test, P>0.05) was identified to make short-term forecast for the prediction set from June 2018 to November 2018, with RMSE=8.110, MAPE=9.386, and the relative error between the predicted value and the actual value ranged from 1.61% to 8.06%.ConclusionsCompared with the actual cases, the SARIMA model fits well with good short-term prediction accuracy, and it can help provide reliable data support for a scientific forecast for the inpatient cases of pediatric limb fractures.