Standardisation of cleft care--a technique for creating a three-dimensional model of the cleft lip, palate and nose.

The Royal College of Surgeons Cleft Steering Group and the Craniofacial Society of Great Britain and Ireland have recommended that, for patients with a cleft of the lip and/or palate, a model is made of the deformity before primary surgery. This provides a record for audit and can be used to compare the results of treatment. There is no standardisation in the way in which a model of the cleft deformity is made, which makes inter-unit comparison difficult. In this paper, we describe our technique for making a composite model of the cleft palate, lip and nose. This method is adaptable and quick to perform, and the models are easy to store.

Vascularised muscular flaps and arterial graft infection in the groin.

The groin is the commonest site for graft infections in vascular surgery. This is a potentially catastrophic situation as limb loss or even death occurs in a large percentage of cases. Standard teaching for treatment of infected vascular grafts is removal and extra anatomical bypass grafting whilst commencing appropriate antibiotics. This review article suggests careful scrutiny of the wound, debridement and coverage of the graft with a vascularised muscular flap is appropriate in certain situations.

Use of hearing aids in the management of children with cleft palate.

OBJECTIVE: The incidence of otitis media with effusion in children with cleft palate is high. There are numerous reports looking at early insertion of ventilation tubes (VT) with associated complications. We believe that this is the first paper that discusses the use of hearing aids (HA) as the first line of management. METHODS: Children with cleft palate are managed in a special multidisciplinary clinic in our hospital. Detailed records of these children are maintained. We studied the otological management of 70 children with repaired cleft palate. RESULTS: 12 of the 70 (17.1%) had VT inserted, 17 (24.3%) were provided with HA, 14 (20%) had both grommets and HA and 27 (38.6%) had neither. Of the 31 (44.3%) children who had HA, 16 (51.6%) had good compliance with the HA. The hearing, speech and language developments in these children have been good. Twelve of the 70 patients (17.1%) have had one or more otological complications. These were significantly higher in children treated with VT. CONCLUSION: We have successfully treated 62.9% of our patients with non-surgical intervention, and show a low incidence of long term complications.

An audit of the tetanus immunisation status of plastic surgery trauma and burns patients.

This study audits the tetanus immunisation management of plastic surgery trauma patients by their referring Accident and Emergency departments, and compares this to nationally published guidelines. We assessed 269 burns and trauma patients, referred from across South Wales, using a questionnaire together with their Accident and Emergency notes or letter. The precise question(s) that had been asked regarding the tetanus immunisation status of the patient, and the immunisation management based on the results of those questions, were recorded. The accurate tetanus immunisation status of the patient was established, the wound was assessed and further management was given as indicated. Only 16 patients had been asked whether they had received a course of tetanus, and 41 patients were not questioned about their tetanus immunisation status by the referring Accident and Emergency department. As a consequence of more accurate questioning, 73 patients (27%) required further action after their arrival in the Plastic Surgery unit. This audit has demonstrated that the management of tetanus immunoprophylaxis in plastic surgery trauma patients cannot be confidently left to the referring Accident and Emergency department but should form an integral part of the treatment at the admitting unit.