Sublesional fat grafting leads to a temporary improvement of wound healing in chronic leg ulcers: A prospective, randomised clinical trial.

Chronic wounds remain a therapeutic and financial challenge for physicians and the health care systems. Innovative, inexpensive and effective treatment methods would be of immense value. The sublesional fat grafting could be such treatment, although effectiveness and safety have only been assessed in a few randomised clinical trials. The fat graft was obtained by liposuction, washed with the Coleman method and then injected sublesional and into the wound margins after surgical debridement. For the control group, saline solution was used instead of fat. The primary endpoint was to determine the wound size reduction in both groups. The wounds were measured preoperatively, intraoperatively and 3, 7, 21 and 60 days after the intervention. A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant. Furthermore, histology and microbiology of the wounds and pain were assessed. A temporary effect of the treatment was observed after 14 and 21 days. The wound size reduction was significantly larger in the intervention group, whereas after 60 days, no significant difference was detected between both groups. No adverse events could be reported and the pain level was almost equal in the control and intervention group. Sublesional fat grafting temporarily enhanced healing of chronic wounds. The procedure was safe and the pain level was low. Repeated interventions could lead to complete wound closure, which should be determined in future studies.

Free Flaps in Sternal Osteomyelitis After Median Sternotomy: A Center's 12-Year Experience.

BACKGROUND: Adequate treatment of deep sternal wound infections (DSWIs) after open thoracic surgery still presents a major challenge. This study retrospectively analyzes the results of a single center's 12-year experience in treating DSWI, with special emphasis on free flap reconstruction. METHODS: In this single-center, retrospective study, all patients admitted with the diagnosis of DSWI after open thoracic surgery between 2009 and 2020 were included. A comparative analysis was performed between: (1) pedicled versus free flaps, (2) the center's two workhorse flaps-the pedicled latissimus dorsi (pLD) versus free anterolateral thigh (fALT) flaps, as well as (3) myocutaneous (MC) versus fasciocutaneous (FC) flaps. Primary endpoints were length of hospital stay (LOS) after reconstruction and in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: Of a total of 165 patients included, 152 underwent DSWI defect reconstruction with a total of 12 different reconstruction methods. Although the defect size was larger in patients who underwent free flap coverage, and the risk profile in the fALT and FC flap groups was higher, the LOS after reconstruction (in days) did not differ significantly between the groups (pedicled vs. free flaps: 23 vs. 28, p > 0.05; pLD vs. fALT: 24.5 vs. 26, p > 0.05; MC vs. FC flaps: 23 vs. 26, p > 0.05). Also, no significant differences were found in terms of in-hospital mortality when comparing the groups (pedicled vs. free flaps: 11.2 vs. 17.4%, p > 0.05; pLD vs. fALT: 11.5 vs. 12.5%, p > 0.05; MC vs. FC flaps: 12.9 vs. 12.5%, p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: With proper patient selection, free tissue transfer is a valuable alternative in the treatment of sternal dehiscence after a DSWI. Furthermore, our data demonstrate that MC flaps are not necessarily superior to FC flaps in the reconstruction of sternal osteomyelitis defects.

Long-term Results After Autologous Fat Transfer for Treatment of Chronic Lower Extremity Wounds.

Autologous fat transfer may offer a simple and effective treatment option for chronic wound patients, delivering adipose-derived stem cells, with potent regenerative attributes. Nevertheless, the clinical benefit has not yet been sufficiently demonstrated. A total of 39 wound patients were treated with autologous fat transfer (AFT) and matched with a control group, according to the identified confounding variables "gender" and "method of defect closure." All data were acquired retrospectively. Primary outcome was "wound closure" and "reduction of wound size."After a follow-up of 48 weeks, there was no significant difference in primary outcome (wound closure P = .54) between both groups. The relative wound reduction after fat transfer was 69.9% ± 42.7% compared to 53.4% ± 106.8% in the control group (P = .91). Subgroup analysis of all patients, healed by secondary intention, revealed an increased wound size reduction (P = .03) and wound closure rate (P = .20) in the case group after 12 weeks. No adverse events were recorded. Fat grafting can reduce the wound size if left to secondary healing and may be considered individually for reconstructive purposes. A repeated application of autologous fat might be beneficial due to a temporary effect.