Annals of plastic surgery
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Annals of plastic surgery · Nov 1997
Comparative StudyA comparison of donor and recipient site sensation in free tissue reconstruction of the oral cavity.
In patients who undergo oral cavity reconstruction, loss of sensation plays a vital role in producing disturbances in postoperative oral function. Microsurgical techniques have provided a method of addressing this deficit through the use of sensate cutaneous free flaps in which microneural anastomoses are performed between a sensory nerve supplying the flap, and a recipient nerve in the head and neck. The purpose of this study was to compare the cutaneous sensation of the radial forearm flap and lateral arm flap donor sites, the two most commonly used intraoral sensate flaps. ⋯ The lateral arm flap donor site is a more sensitive region than the radial forearm flap donor site. However, the lateral arm flap donor site is less sensitive than the tip of tongue and hard palate, while the radial forearm flap donor site is less sensitive than the tip of tongue, hard palate, lateral tongue, and cheek. This suggests that for certain locations, intraoral sensate flaps may require measures such as sensory reeducation protocols to approach normal recipient site sensation.
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Annals of plastic surgery · Nov 1997
Case ReportsSingle-stage, multimodality treatment of soft-tissue sarcoma of the extremity.
The present study describes the techniques available for single-stage sarcoma resection, soft-tissue reconstruction, and radiotherapy for limb preservation in patients who are unable to undergo primary wound closure after a complete soft-tissue resection of their primary sarcoma. From 1989 to 1994, 19 patients (age range, 18-79 years; mean, 51.2 years) underwent radical resection of extremity sarcomas followed by immediate reconstruction. Seven patients had tumors in the upper extremity and 12 patients had tumors in the lower extremity. ⋯ Our study confirms the utility of soft-tissue reconstruction to permit wide local excision with clear margins as well as the delivery of postoperative radiotherapy. It demonstrates the ability of pedicled flaps and free tissue transfers to remain viable and provide sufficient wound coverage in the setting of early postoperative brachytherapy. In addition, this series illustrates the efficacy of a team approach and one-stage therapy for extremity soft-tissue sarcomas that includes excision, reconstruction, and early postoperative brachytherapy in a single hospitalization.
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Annals of plastic surgery · Nov 1997
Effects of vasoactive medications on the blood flow of island musculocutaneous flaps in swine.
Pedicled flaps and microsurgical free tissue transfers are increasingly being used for reconstruction in the elderly and poorer risk patient. The use of systemically administered vasoactive agents to date has been avoided because of the fear that systemic levels of these agents perioperatively (particularly the vasopressors) might decrease blood flow and compromise the viability of the flap. There are no large-animal, real-time hemodynamic studies that support or disprove this belief. ⋯ Flap flow also decreases relative to cardiac output with both dopamine and dobutamine. We conclude that (1) phenylephrine clearly affects flap flow adversely in a large-animal musculocutaneous model and therefore should be avoided, (2) dopamine does not affect total flap flow at either low or high doses despite increasing cardiac output, (3) dobutamine increases both flap flow and cardiac output, and (4) both dopamine and dobutamine should still be used with caution because the flap flow is not equally increased relative to total cardiac output. Possible changes in systemic and flap metabolic demand induced by these vasopressor drugs may therefore still be injurious to the flaps.
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Annals of plastic surgery · Nov 1997
Oxygen free radicals impair wound healing in ischemic rat skin.
Oxygen free radicals are produced and play an important role in ischemic injury. We therefore wished to investigate the role of free radicals on ischemic skin wound healing. For this purpose, H-shaped flaps, where the test ischemic wound is the horizontal line in the H, were created on the dorsum of the rat. ⋯ SOD treatment caused a significant decrease in wound edema by day 7 of healing (p < 0.05). Histopathological evaluation revealed that in the SOD- and allopurinol-treated groups, the amount of collagen and its organization were more prominent when compared with the ischemic controls. These results show that oxygen free radicals play an important role in the failure of ischemic wound healing, and antioxidants partly improve the healing in ischemic skin wounds.