The Beau's Line Secondary to Acute Hand Injury

Beau first described transverse depressions of the fingernails after an acute febrile illness in 1846. It was the result of the temporary arrest of nail matrix formation. The transient interference of nail growth rate is usually induced by disability caused by severe systemic disease. Such as Raynaud disease, myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism, acute renal failure, psoriasis and dysmenorrhea were reported to be the cause of Beau's line. The trauma caused either in a hand or in a forearm was also reported to be the cause of Beau's line. We experienced patients with Beau's line, two cases secondary to fingertip injury and one case due to fracture in radius. They had Beau's lines in all fingers of traumatized hand and nails of opposite hand were normal. During the follow-up, the growth rate of traumatized fingernails were normal and there was no complication.

The Complications and its Management Using Resorbable Plates in Craniofacial Bone Fractures

Rigid fixation with metallic plates & screws have been widely used in craniofacial surgery. But the metallic plating system had some problems including intracranial migration, growth restriction, foreign body reaction, infection and artifacts in radiologic evaluation. To overcome these drawbacks, there had been a continuous research on the development of a bioabsorbable skeletal fixation system using polymers of polylactic and polyglycolic acid. There is an increasing acceptance of its application as an alternative fixation device in craniofacial surgery. The resorbable fixation devices have been used in our department between January 2001 and June 2004 in craniofacial surgery. The aim of this retrospective study is to review the complications experienced during this period. We have used the SR-PLDLA(Self reinforecd poly- L/DL-lactide polymer, BioSorbFX(R)) in 131 patients of craniofacial bone fractures. Age varied from 3 to 72 and follow up period varied from 4 months to 40 months. We encountered 4 cases of foreign body reaction, 3 cases of infection and 1 cases of device exposure. In patient showing foreign body reaction, we treated with antibiotics. In case of uncontrolled infection, we removed implants. We think that the resorbable plating system on the rise as alternative method in craniofacial surgery. But more research is needed about its complications.