ABSTRACT
Background: Schwannoma is a benign peripheral nerve sheath tumour derived from Schwann cells. Also known as Neurilemoma, it can affect any nerve in the body. They usually present as a painless swelling or paresthesia over the sensory distribution of the affected nerve. Although it is classically described that schwannomas are well encapsulated and can be completely enucleated during excision, many of them have fascicular involvement and could not be completely shelled out. The aim of this work is to present our experience in operative management of schwannomas located in extremities.Methods: Authors conducted a retrospective review for 18 adult patients with schwannoma, from June 2012 to June 2018. There were 10 men and 8 women, ranging from 20 to 68 years of age, with a mean age of 46 years old. All patients had excision done for the tumour and histopathological examination confirmed schwannoma. All patients were preoperatively evaluated both clinically and radiologically. FNAC was also done to confirm the origin of the swelling.Results: The mean follow up period has been 2 years. Complete excision with preservation of nerve was done in all cases except for one case in which nerve graft was used.Conclusions: Use of preoperative MRI, magnification and good surgical technique will help to enucleate the tumour completely without any collateral damage or recurrence. The possibility and option of nerve graft should be discussed with patients prior to schwannoma excision, so that nerve grafting could be directly proceeded with patient consent in case there is fascicular involvement of tumour found intraoperatively.
ABSTRACT
Background: Coverage of soft tissue defects around distal third of the leg, particularly ankle and foot is a common situation faced by a plastic and reconstructive surgeon. Options available for such defects are limited due to scarcity of additional soft tissue that can be used without exposing tendons or bone. Associated conditions such as major vascular compromise, comorbidities and lack of facilities or expertise make free tissue transfer less preferred. Distally based sural artery flap has been a frequently used flap in such conditions, easy to perform and has reproducible results. We extended the reach of the flap and reproduced the results.Methods: We performed extended reverse sural artery pedicled flaps in 19 patients who presented to us between 2015 to 2017 with soft tissue defects around ankle and foot. Patients included 15 post RTA, 2 diabetic foot, 1 post resection defect and 1 post burn contracture release defect. Size of the defect ranged between 8x6cm to 14x10cm. Average follow up period was ranging from 8 months to 2.5 years.Results: All the flaps healed well without any obvious complications except one patient in whom marginal necrosis (2 cm margin of distal most flap) was observed and was secondarily treated with skin grafting.Conclusions: We observed that extended reverse sural pedicle flap is a rapid, reliable option for coverage of soft tissue defects around ankle and heel, sparing major vessel compromise and lengthy surgical procedure during free tissue transfer. This flap should be the first option for the patients with trauma and defects over weight bearing foot in whom peroneal axis vessels are preserved.