Principle and clinical application of keloid core excision technique / 中国修复重建外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To review the research progress of the principle and clinical application of keloid core excision technique.@*METHODS@#The literature on keloid core excision technique at home and abroad in recent years was extensively reviewed, and the principle, development history, indications, advantages and disadvantages of this technique were summarized, and the existing controversies were analyzed.@*RESULTS@#Keloid core excision is a technique to remove the inner fibrous core from the keloid and cover the defect with the keloidal flap. It reduces the wound tension, yields good aesthetic results in the treatment of ear keloids, and reduces the recurrence rate of keloids combining with adjuvant therapies.@*CONCLUSION@#The keloid core excision technique has specific advantages, yet its overall efficacy remains controversial. Further studies are imperative to explore the mechanisms regarding keloid recurrence and the vascular supply principles of the keloidal flap. It is also necessary to define appropriate surgical indications and safety protocols of this technique.

Application of indocyanine green angiography in repair of facial soft tissue defect using superficial temporal artery based forehead flap / 中国修复重建外科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the feasibility of using indocyanine green angiography in mapping the superficial temporal vessels and assisting design and harvesting of the superficial temporal artery based forehead flap.@*METHODS@#A clinical data of 14 patients with facial soft tissue defects repaired with superficial temporal artery based forehead flaps between October 2015 and November 2022 was retrospectively analyzed. There were 9 males and 5 females with a median age of 9.5 years (range, 3-38 years). The forehead flaps were used to reconstruct facial soft tissue defects following excision of facial scar (8 cases) or congenital melanocyte nevus (6 cases). The size of defects ranged from 3 cm×2 cm to 24 cm×9 cm. Before operation, the indocyanine green angiography was used to map the superficial temporal artery and vein, and to analyze the relationship of the arteries and veins. The forehead flaps with unilateral superficial temporal fascia as the pedicle was transferred to repair the small facial defect in 2 cases. The facial pedicle contained the frontal branch of the superficial temporal artery and 2 cm of the superficial temporal fascia around the vessel, and the tiny accompanying vein of the frontal branch of the superficial temporal artery was used as the outflow of the flap. The forehead flaps with the skin pedicle including bilateral or unilateral superficial temporal fascia and the overlying skin was pre-expanded and transferred to repair the large facial defect in 12 cases. The skin pedicle contained the frontal branch of superficial temporal artery and one of main branches of superficial temporal vein. Among the 12 cases, the frontal branch of superficial temporal vein was used as the outflow in 4 cases, and the parietal branch was used as the outflow in 8 cases. The size of the flaps ranged from 3 cm×2 cm to 30 cm×13 cm. The skin pedicles were divided at 3 weeks after the flap transfer.@*RESULTS@#Indocyanine green angiography could clearly showed the course and branching of the superficial temporal artery and vein. Individual differences existed in the location where the frontal branch of the superficial temporal artery entered the forehead. The superficial temporal vein had great variability and did not follow the artery. One patient had expander-related complication, which resulted in 3-cm flap necrosis. The necrotic tissue was debrided and repaired with skin grafting. The other flaps totally survived and the incisions healed by first intention. All patients were followed up 2-24 months, with a median of 11.5 months. The color, texture, and thickness of the flaps matched well with those of recipient sites. Hypertrophic scar was not observed in recipient or donor site. All patients were satisfied with the reconstructive outcomes.@*CONCLUSION@#Indocyanine green angiography can clearly visualize the course and the branches of the superficial temporal arteries and veins, which can help surgeons understand the position, distribution, and concomitant relationship of the superficial temporal vessels, and make a rational surgical plan of the forehead flap.

Experience in the treatment of postoperative cerebrospinal fluid leakage followed by surgical management of a spinal meningocele combined with infection / 中华整形外科杂志

A 37-year-old woman presented with a congenital spinal meningocele for 37 years and ruptured for 6 months. She was admitted to the Plastic Surgery Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in March 2018. The diameter of the lesion was about 10 cm, with purulent secretion and malodor. The superior gluteal artery perforator propeller flap was used to reconstruct the defect after the lesion resection. Part of the wound didn’t heal and cerebrospinal fluid leaked from the wound postoperatively. The wound eventually healed after wound debridement and drainage changing. Cerebrospinal fluid retention under the flap could result in wound dehiscence and cerebrospinal fluid leakage. The author introduced the treatment process and operative method. The preliminary experience in treating cerebrospinal fluid leakage after surgical management of the spinal meningocele was also summarized.

The oblique branch of lateral circumflex femoral artery: alternative vascular pedicle for pedicled anterolateral thigh flaps / 中华整形外科杂志

Objective@#To explore the feasibility and technical points of soft tissue defect reconstruction using the pedicled anterolateral thigh flap based on perforating vessels from the lateral circumflex femoral artery oblique branch.@*Methods@#Between November 2009 and April 2019, 27 pedicled anterolateral thigh flaps were performed to repair the wound of trunk and lower extremity, based on perforating vessels from the lateral circumflex femoral artery oblique branch. 16 flaps were proximally based and 11 were distally based.@*Results@#The proximally based flap ranged from 15 cm×8 cm to 32 cm×12 cm. The mean length of the pedicle was 8.2 cm. The distally based flap ranged from 9 cm×7 cm to 24 cm×8 cm. The mean length of the pedicle was 18.6 cm. All flaps survived after surgery. Venous congestion occurred in one flap and relieved in five days.@*Conclusions@#With oblique branch as the pedicle, the vascular dissection was easy and donor site morbidity was minimized while harvesting the proximally based anterolateral thigh flaps; long pedicle could be obtained, and the reconstructive sphere was extended when using the distally based anterolateral thigh flaps.

Distribution of the septocutaneous perforators in the medial arm and its clinical applications / 中华整形外科杂志

Objective@#To investigate the distribution of the septocutaneous perforators in the medial arm and its clinical applications.@*Methods@#Between March 2014 and August 2018, 39 patients (45 arms) were included in the study. A coordinate system originating at the medial epicondyle was established, with the y-axis running to the axillary apex and expressed in relative value. The y-axis was trisected and each third from proximal to distal were designated as A, B, and C, respectively. Based on this, the medial arm flap was used to reconstruct defects in the head and neck, hand, axilla, elbow and chest wall.@*Results@#An average of 4.6 perforators were identified along the medial intermuscular septum of the arm, located at 0.87±0.08, 0.50±0.09 and 0.20±0.06 on the y-axis, with a prevalence of 95.6%, 100% and 86.7%, respectively. Among the 45 flaps, 30 were used as pedicled distant flaps and 15 as perforator-based propeller flaps, with an average size of 18.7 cm×8.1 cm. The average length of the perforator pedicle was 3.1 cm. One pedicled distant flap developed hematoma after pedicle division but recovered with hematoma removal. One perforator-based propeller flap had partial loss of the distal third, requiring surgical debridement followed by a local flap transfer. Two perforator-based propeller flaps had venous congestion but survived completely with conservative therapy. The remaining flaps healed uneventfully. Donor-site morbidity was minimal. The patients were followed up for 6 months to 3 years (average 12.6 months) with satisfactory aesthetic appearance, greatly improved function and no tumor recurrence.@*Conclusions@#The constant perforators could be found in each third of the medial arm. The perforator-based medial arm flap could be used for various soft-tissue defect reconstructions.

Design and clinical applications of the propeller flaps based on perforators from different branches of the lateral circumflex femoral artery / 中华整形外科杂志

Objective@#To explore the flap design and clinical applications of the propeller flaps based on perforators from different branches of the lateral circumflex femoral artery in defect reconstruction.@*Methods@#Between September 2009 and December 2018, 27 patients with soft tissue defects from lower extremities were involved in this study, including 15 males and 12 females, with an average age of 34.6 years old (range, 3 to 73 years old). Before surgery, the type of the flap to be used was designed preliminarily by evaluating the location, size and shape of the lesion or defect. The perforators of the lateral circumflex femoral artery were explored using an ultrasound Doppler probe, marked on skin. The computed tomographic angiography was also used to get more information of the branches of the lateral circumflex femoral artery when possible. The propeller flaps were divided into typeⅠ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ, and Ⅳ according to the perforators that originated from the transverse, descending, oblique, and rectus femoris branches of the lateral circumflex femoral artery, respectively. The type Ⅱ flap was subdivided into type Ⅱa and type Ⅱb flaps that were based on antegrade and reverse flow from the descending branch. The defects were reconstructed using the perforator propeller flap.@*Results@#Twenty-seven patients underwent reconstruction of defects using the propeller flaps based on perforators from different branches of the lateral circumflex femoral artery including 3 type Ⅰ flap, 12 type Ⅱa, 2 type Ⅱb, 10 type Ⅲ and 3 type Ⅳ. The size, pedicle length and rotation angle of the flaps were 12 cm×6 cm to 30 cm×15 cm, 4 cm to 15 cm, and 60 to 180 degrees, respectively. Total necrosis occurred in one flap and small-sized distal necrosis in another one. Minor complications occurred in two flaps and the remaining propeller flaps survived completely. All patients were followed up from one to 25 months and mean follow-up time was 9.9 months. Tumor recurrence was noticed in one patient. All patients were satisfied with the final functional and aesthetic outcomes.@*Conclusions@#For appropriate cases, reconstruction of defects from the groin to the knee could be achieved by using the propeller flaps based on perforators from different branches of the lateral circumflex femoral artery, with advantages of easy-to-operate and minor donor-site morbidity.

New methods and technologies in the field of perforator flap studies / 中华整形外科杂志

A large number of innovative and new technologies and method in the field of perforator flap were proposed with the hard work of many experts and surgeons. This paper briefly reviewed the following items including the discovery of the perforator flap and its enlightenment to us, three-dimensional visualized anatomy, angiosome and perforasome theories, pre-operative perforator detection techniques, techniques for evaluation of the flap vascular perfusion, the concept of freestyle perforator flap, chimeric flap, flow-through flap technique, new designs of pedicle perforator flap, particularly the propeller and keystone flaps, supramicrosurgery, superthin flap, microdissected thin perforator flap, and microvascular breast reconstruction and lymph node transfer for postmastectomy lymphedema patients. These new technologies and method have greatly improved our understanding of flap surgery and promote the development of the reconstructive surgery. The traditional research focused on investigating the anatomic features of a single flap and strategies for the reconstruction of different defects and organs. Nowadays, the treatment scope of reconstructive surgery is more extensive and has developed to repair various refractory wounds following trauma and oncological resection, nerve injuries, and to reconstruct defect and organ by using the vascularized composite allotransplantation. Researches on the upper limb lymphedema after breast cancer surgery have been highly valued recently. It can be expected that the direction of reconstructive surgery would be transformed from the improvement of theraputic modalities to concentrating on the treatment of diseases, and this undoubtedly conforms to the essence of medicine. The research of perforator flaps will be directed to more precise, minimally invasive, and individualized according to the requirements of evidence-based medicine.

Clinical effects of scapular region flaps pedicled with circumflex scapular artery in the reconstruction of axillary burn scar contractures / 中华烧伤杂志

Objective@#To explore the clinical effects of scapular region flaps pedicled with circumflex scapular artery in the reconstruction of axillary burn scar contractures.@*Methods@#From December 2008 to December 2018, 21 patients with axillary burn scar contractures were admitted to our department. There were 12 male patients and 9 female patients, aged 2-48 years, with an average of 17.4 years. According to the characteristics of axillary scar contractures, the patients were divided into type Ⅰ of 5 patients, type Ⅱ of 2 patients, type Ⅲ of 5 patients, and type Ⅳ of 9 patients. The preoperative abduction ranges of shoulder joint were 20-150°, with an average of 68.33°. The wound areas after resection and release of scar contractures ranged from 12 cm×4 cm to 33 cm×11 cm, with an average of 18.13 cm×5.41 cm, and the wounds were repaired with scapular region flaps pedicled with circumflex scapular artery in the areas of 14 cm×5 cm-35 cm×14 cm, with an average of 20.19 cm×7.71 cm. The donor sites of 5 patients were expanded prior to flap repair operation, and the other 16 patients were repaired by direct transfer of flaps. The donor sites were closed directly. The type, number, and transfer way of scapular region flaps were calculated, and the improvement of abduction angle of shoulder joint and condition of the flaps were observed during follow-up after operation.@*Results@#There were 5 ascending scapular flaps, 13 scapular flaps, and 3 parascapular flaps. The flaps were transferred through open wounds in 18 cases, subcutaneous tunnel in 1 case, and trilateral foramia in the remaining 2 cases. All the flaps survived after operation. During follow-up of 3 months to 5 years, with an average of 19.4 months, the abduction angles of shoulder joints were 90-180°, with an average of 137.62°, which showed that the abduction function of shoulder joint improved obviously. The texture of flap was soft, and the color of the flap was close to the surrounding skin. The patients and/or their family members were satisfied with the operation results.@*Conclusions@#The scapular region flap pedicled with circumflex scapular artery has a lot of advantages, including a long vascular pedicle, simple technique for flap harvest, a hidden donor site, and flexible and diverse transfer mode of flap. It is an effective option for clinical reconstruction of severe axillary burn scar contracture.

Classification and applications of the pedicled deep inferior epigastric artery perforator flap / 中华整形外科杂志

Objective@#To propose a classification method and explore the indications and technical tips of the pedicled deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEAP) flap.@*Methods@#From July 2005 to December 2017, 18 patients underwent soft-tissue defect repairment using the pedicled DIEAP flap. The defect locations included abdomen (n=6), iliolumbar region (n=2), perineum (n=4), and proximal thigh (n=6). The flaps were divided into two types. The type Ⅰ flap were further subdivided into two subtypes. The type Ⅰa flap was solely based on the DIEAP. The type Ⅰb flap was also based on the DIEAP, however, the main trunk of the deep inferior epigastric vessels needs to be divided to further improve the pedicle length. The type Ⅱ flap was the traditional pedicled DIEAP flap.@*Results@#Twenty flaps were included in this series. The mean flap size and pedicle length of the 4 flaps in type Ⅰa were 19.0 cm× 6.5 cm and 2.88 cm respectively. The rotation angles were 60 degrees (n=1), 120 degrees (n=1), and 180 degrees (n=2). The 3 flaps of type Ⅰb was 26 cm × 6 cm, 20 cm × 5 cm and 24 cm × 7 cm in size, and the pedicle lengths of them were 6 cm, 7 cm and 7 cm, respectively. All flaps in this subtype were rotated by 180 degrees. The mean flap size and pedicle length of the 13 type Ⅱ flaps were 21.46 cm × 9.38 cm and 11.08 cm. 17 flaps completely survived postoperatively. Small-sized necrosis of the distal portion of the flap occurred in 3 flaps. All patients were followed up for 6 months to 5 years, with the averaged 11 months follow-up time. All patients were satisfied with the final outcomes. Tumor recurrence was not noticed for the oncological patients.@*Conclusions@#The pedicled DIEAP flap has remarkable versatility in the defect repairment for the regions including abdomen, iliolumbar region, proximal thigh, and perineal region. Combining with the " propeller flap" concept, the clinical application of pedicled DIEAP flap could be further expanded. The pedicled DIEAP flap is a reliable reconstructive method for defect repairment in abdominal and iliolumbar regions.

Flap design and clinical applications of the pre-expanded perforator propeller flap / 中华整形外科杂志

Objective@#To explore the feasibility and technical tips of defect reconstruction using the pre-expanded perforator propeller (PEPP) flap.@*Methods@#From July 2009 to December 2017, 56 patients underwent defect reconstruction using the PEPP flap. During the first-stage operation, an expander with appropriate size was buried within a soft-tissue pocket. Three strategies were used for expander placement, including placement of the expander underneath the muscle, at a distance from the emergence point of the perforator when the perforator location is relatively fixed, and following the criteria when a free-style perforator flap is designed. At the second-stage operation, a PEPP flap was raised and rotated a certain number of degrees to reconstruct the defect.@*Results@#56 flaps were elevated. The expanders were buried according to the strategy Ⅰ in 2 cases, the strategy Ⅱ in 42 cases, and the strategy Ⅲ in 12 cases. The flap size ranged from 7-13 cm to 14-32 cm with the average size of 9.38 cm × 21.22 cm. The pedicle length ranged from 2.5 cm to 10 cm and the mean length was 5.03 cm. The rotation angle was 180 degrees in 44 cases, 150 and 120 degrees in 6 cases respectively. The perforators that were previously explored were all identified during the second-stage operation. 53 flaps survived completely. Venous congestion of the distal portion of the flap was observed after the surgery in two cases. Necrosis of small area of the flap occurred and free skin grafting was used to resurface the defect after debridement. All patients were followed up for 3 months to 4 years and the average follow-up time was 13.4 months.@*Conclusions@#The PEPP flap can not only ensure primary closure of the donor site, but also provide more extra tissue for defect reconstruction. For selected patients, it could be an alternative option for soft-tissue defect reconstruction.

Clinical application of the pre-expanded propeller flap based on the perforators of the supratrochlear artery or the supraorbital artery / 中华整形外科杂志

Objective@#To investigate the feasibility and technical tips of repairing facial defects with pre-expanded propeller flap based on the perforators of the supratrochlear artery or the supraorbital artery.@*Methods@#In the first-stage operation, a tissue expander was buried underneath the frontalis muscle. The second-stage operation was conducted using pre-expanded supratrochlear artery or the supraorbital artery based propeller flap to repair facial defect.@*Results@#From July 2010 to July 2016, this method was used in 8 patients. 5 flaps were based on the supratrochlear artery, and 3 flaps based on the supraorbital artery. Expander size was ranged from 150 ml to 300 ml. The size of propeller flaps was from 10 cm × 6 cm to 15 cm × 13 cm. All the flaps survived without any major complications. Follow-up period ranged from 3 to 36 months. Eyebrow replacement, flap thinning and scar revision were performed in 6 cases. All patients were satisfied with the final aesthetic result.@*Conclusions@#The pre-expanded propeller flap based on the supratrochlear artery or the supraorbital artery is an alternative option to repair the facial defect in appropriate cases.

Application of indocyanine green SPY imaging in flap surgery / 中华整形外科杂志

Objective@#To evaluate the efficacy of indocyanine green SPY imaging in flap surgery.@*Methods@#Between July 2016 and March 2017, forty-five flaps of thirty-five consecutive patients were retrospectively analyzed, among which forty-four were pedicled flaps and one was free flap, measuring from 2.0 cm×1.5 cm to 34.0 cm×17.0 cm. SPY imaging was performed twice for each flap, after the elevation of flap and after flap insertion respectively. The correlation of the flap perfusion detected by SPY and the prognosis of each flap were recorded and analyzed.@*Results@#Twenty-nine flaps demonstrated good perfusion on SPY healed uneventfully. Sixteen flaps were demonstrated poor perfusion in the distal part of flap. Two flaps underwent surgical intervention intraoperatively and totally survived. Fourteen flaps were preserved conservatively and nine suffered partial- or full-thickness necrosis. None of the remaining five flaps sustained necrosis. Secondary healing was achieved through regular dressing change or operative debridement. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 100%(9/9), 85.3%(29/34) and 88.4%(38/43) respectively.@*Conclusions@#Intraoperative indocyanine green SPY imaging is a useful adjuvant to evaluate flap perfusion and predict necrosis in plastic surgery, enhancing a surgeon’s clinical judgment of flap viability.

Consecutive flap transfer for repairing massive soft tissue defects in the opisthenar with improved donor site closure / 中华创伤杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore a surgical model of utilizing consecutive free scapular flap and adjacent pedicled flap transfer for repairing massive soft tissue defects on the dorsum of the hand while minimizing the donor site morbidity.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Six patients with massive soft tissue injuries on the opisthenar and forearm were treated with free scapular flaps. Afterwards, a pedicled flap adjacent to the donor site was transferred to cover the donor site defect by direct closure.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All six free scapular flaps survived without signs of infection. Three adjacent pedicled flaps presented minor signs of insufficient blood flow on the distal apex, which resolved after six weeks with only conservative therapy. All the incisions healed without other complications. At six-month follow-up, the patients regained full shoulder function.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>With the assistance of an adjacent pedicled flap, the scapular flap is a highly applicable approach in repairing massive soft tissue defects in the opisthenar. It can achieve positive outcomes in both reconstructive and aesthetic aspects.</p>

Endoscopic resection of frontal benign tumors / 中华医学美学美容杂志

ObjectiveTo explore the clinical results of endoscopic resection of the frontal benign tumors.MethodsNineteen cases of benign tumors in the frontal area were rcsected using endo scopic techniques.The tumors were diagnosed as benign according to complaint,history and physical examination.ResultsAll 19 tumors were totally resected.The pathological examination revealed 11cases of lipoma,3 cases of sebaceous cyst,3 cases of sebaceous cyst and 2 cases of dermoid cyst.During 6 months to 2 years of follow-up,no tumor recurred.Local concavity was noticed in all patients but all resolved within 6 months except 2 patients.They received granular fat graft of the concavities 6months late and were satisfied with the results.ConclusionsBenign tumors near eyebrows and in glabella area can be treated by minimally invasive endoscopic technique.Compared with traditional surgery,this technique offers inconspicuous scar and fast recovery.