Reconstruction of traumatic losses of substance at the elbow

Hybrid Fixation of Open Distal Humerus Fracture With Acute Loss of Lateral Articular Condyle

Acute, major articular bone loss associated with an open fracture is an uncommon injury. These injuries typically occur after high-energy trauma and are challenging to treat. Various approaches to treatment include allografts, prosthetic composite structures, custom implants, and total joint arthroplasty. These treatment options provide a wide array of variability in outcomes, costs, and challenges, especially in young and active patients. Two patients presented to our institution with open elbow injuries that included structural bone loss of the lateral column including the entire capitellar articular surface and a portion of the lateral trochlea. With the limited portions of bone available, the surgical principles for distal humerus fracture of articular repair followed by medial and lateral column restoration were followed. Each patient was treated with repair of the residual remnant of the articular surface. Then, repair of the columns of the distal humerus was performed by using a combination of internal fixation and hinged external fixation. In both cases, a plate was inserted to repair the medial column and a hinged external fixation was applied laterally to protect the lateral column. Immediate motion was allowed and progressed within each patient's tolerance. The lateral, hinged external fixator was removed at 8 weeks after injury and converted to a lateral column plate fixed distally into the lateral portion of the residual trochlea. At follow-up, both patients had radiographic evidence of reconstitution of the lateral column of the distal humerus and were able to return to heavy manual labor. [Orthopedics. 2022;45(3):e162-e167.].

Compound or Specially Designed Flaps in the Lower Extremities

Novel and combined tissue transfers from the lower extremity provide new tools to combat soft tissue defects of the hand, foot, and ankle, or fracture nonunion. Flaps can be designed for special purposes, such as providing a gliding bed for a grafted or repaired tendon or for thumb or finger reconstruction. Propeller flaps can cover soft tissue defects of the leg and foot. In repairing severe bone and soft tissue defects of the lower extremity, combined approaches, including external fixators, one-stage vascularized bone grafting, and skin or muscle flap coverage of the traumatized leg and foot, have become popular.

Compound or Specially Designed Flaps in the Lower Extremities

Novel and combined tissue transfers from the lower extremity provide new tools to combat soft tissue defects of the hand, foot, and ankle, or fracture nonunion. Flaps can be designed for special purposes, such as providing a gliding bed for a grafted or repaired tendon or for thumb or finger reconstruction. Propeller flaps can cover soft tissue defects of the leg and foot. In repairing severe bone and soft tissue defects of the lower extremity, combined approaches, including external fixators, one-stage vascularized bone grafting, and skin or muscle flap coverage of the traumatized leg and foot, have become popular.

Case series: the effectiveness of Fatty acids from pracaxi oil in a topical silicone base for scar and wound therapy

Introduction

Wounding affects the integrity of the skin and can ultimately result in skin scarring. Current therapeutic goals of wound treatment focus on the reduction of scar formation and severity. However, scar formation itself varies not only between individuals based on factors such as ethnicity, but also within an individual based on the location of the wound. Therefore, the preparation of customized treatments for individual patients represents an important therapeutic goal in the fields of dermatology and wound healing. The objective of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of fatty acids found in pracaxi oil in a compounded topical anhydrous silicone base for wound and scar therapy.

Methods

Initially, 21 patients with various surgical, traumatic, or burn wounds and scars were enrolled into this case series. Patients applied a compounded topical anhydrous silicone base containing pracaxi oil with or without additional active ingredients, including pentoxifylline, caffeine, tranilast, and mupirocin. Wound/scar photographs taken before and after application of the compounded pracaxi oil topical formulation (with/without additional ingredients) were reviewed and adjudicated by a blinded dermatology reviewer. Improvements in wound size, coloration, and overall appearance before and after treatment were determined. Patient satisfaction was assessed after application of compounded topical formulation using a self-report questionnaire distributed at the time of dispensing.

Results

A total of seven patients were considered available for analysis and were included in the study. In all seven cases, patients reported improvement in scar and wound attributes, including scar and wound size, severity, color, and pain associated with the scar or wound after application of the compounded medicine. On average, patients rated their satisfaction with treatment highly, with a mean score of 10 on a rating scale of 1–10. Retrospective review of wound/scar photographs demonstrated clinically relevant improvements in wound attributes as assessed by a dermatologist. Six of the seven wounds examined were considered “much improved” from baseline.

Conclusions

Application of a compounded anhydrous silicone base containing pracaxi oil alone or in combination with other active substances led to considerable improvements in wound healing and scar attributes and is a potentially useful option in the treatment of surgical, traumatic, or burn wounds and scars.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13555-014-0065-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.