Successful use of minimal invasive debridement plus negative pressure wound therapy under skin flap and axillary region for refractory postmastectomy seroma: A STROBE-compliant retrospective study.

Seroma is the most common wound complication due to dead space remaining after mastectomy and axillary dissection. Seroma formation, which causes pain and tension, together with the limitations of shoulder and arm movements, can cause wound healing problems that can progress to wound dehiscence and flap necrosis. The aim of our study was to investigate the effects of continuous drainage and negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) in breast cancer patients with refractory postmastectomy seroma. This retrospectively designed study was conducted with 27 patients who were referred to our center between 2018 and 2021 due to refractory seroma after mastectomy. The inclusion criteria of the study were the cases who were planned minimally invasive debridement and NPWT due to having refractory seroma formation with at least 200 cc and having interventions more than 1 month after modified radical mastectomy (MRM), despite conventional treatment methods. All patients' demographics, disease stage, history of possible neoadjuvant therapy, comorbidities, body mass index (BMI), number of wound dressings with NPWT, and total amount of NPWT accumulation were enrolled and compared statistically. Twenty-seven patients included in the study underwent continuous drainage after debridement, and 5 (3-9) dressings were treated with NPWT. None of the patients experienced complications after debridement and NPWT administration. In refractory seroma cases seen after postmastectomy, NPWT especially for the management of debridement and dead space can be evaluated as an appropriate treatment method in patients with high flow rate seroma.

Effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation on rats with post-operative ileus.

BACKGROUND: Post-operative ileus (POI) is a type of bowel dismotility causing accumulation of gas and fluid. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) has been frequently used for medical applications such as pain treatment and nervous stimulation. In this experimental animal model of POI, our aim is to investigate the effects of TENS on POI, and to demonstrate histopathological changes in rat intestine after TENS application. METHODS: The present study is an experimental animal model of POI. Sixteen Wistar-Albino male rats in two groups were used and laparotomy was performed. After colorectum and small intestine were manipulated, activated charcoal and Nile red were ad-ministered by oral gavage. Electrodes were placed to the abdomen skin of the rats and TENS method was used. Rats in two groups were sacrificed on 24 h. The esophagus, stomach, and all intestines of the rats were resected and a direct X-ray and computerized tomography scan, and 'J' images were taken, and the progression of active coals was measured radiologically. Histopathological and microscopic evaluation was performed. RESULTS: The median of activated charcoal measure was 429 mm (178-594) in TENS group, 203 mm (149-313) in the control group, respectively, and these were statistically significant (p=0.004963). There was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of histopathological necrosis (p=0.041). In addition, the amount of Nil Red (550 nm) in the GI track is increased after 8 h of gavage with sequential applications of TENS. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated the protective and therapeutic efficacy of TENS in POI in a rat model by radiologically and histopathologically. In clinical practice, TENS may be examined on POI. Further studies are warranted to validate and generalize our findings, and to assess the impact of TENS for post-operative pain also.

Primary necrotizing fasciitis of the breast. Case series with 5 patients.

Necrotizing fasciitis (NF) is an aggressive, necrotic, life-threatening infection of the soft tissues. The delay on treatment is generally accompanied by almost 90 % lethality according to the development of septic shock and its associated complications. Primary Necrotizing Fasciitis of the Breast (PNFB) is seen extremely rare. To date, breast necrotizing fasciitis have been reported only as a limited number of case reports in the literature. PNFB is commonly misdiagnosed as cellulitis, mastitis, abscess or inflammatory breast cancer. Although PNFB is a very rapid and aggressive disease, which can be fatal. Delayed cases were unfortunately resulted in mortality due to several consequential reasons. Therefore, careful and detailed evaluation of all cases irrespective of age, especially those with risk factors and comorbidities, could be life saving in respect of early diagnosis and timely treatment. Our aim is to to present the analysis and treatment modalities of five primarily seen PFNB, in this case series.

The use of autologous epidermal grafts for diabetic foot ulcer emergencies: A clinical study.

BACKGROUND: There are various surgical and invasive treatment systems such as conservative skin grafts and autologous epider-mal grafting (AEG) for diabetic foot ulcers. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of using a novel epidermal graft harvesting system in diabetic foot ulcer emergencies. METHODS: A retrospective clinical study was conducted with 15 diabetic foot ulcer patients, and after written and signed consent forms were taken, AEG system was applied to all patients. All of the clinical data of the patients such as their American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Physical Status Classification System scores, size of pre-application wound area (cm2), time to complete re-epithelization of the wound, pain scores using the visual analog scale (VAS) for both donor and recipient sites, changes in size of wound, complete dermal response time, and patients' demographics, comorbidities were recorded. The age, gender, pre-post appli-cation wound area (cm2), time of healing, ASA, and VAS variables were compared each other and analyzed statistically. P<0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: The mean of time for complete wound healing was 5.9 (range 4-8) weeks. There was no statistically difference between recipient wound size and patient's age; size of both types of wounds (cm2) and time (weeks) for complete reduction for both types of wounds; and time to complete both types of wound healing and gender (p=0.509, 0.788, and 0.233, respectively). ASA scores did not impact the time required for complete healing of the wound (p=0.749). CONCLUSION: The current study has tried to evaluate the efficacy of the AEG system in a homogenous population with diabetic foot ulcers. An epidermal harvesting system may be used effectively and safely in patients with diabetic foot ulcer emergencies.

Role of Intraoperative Nerve Monitoring in Postoperative Muscle and Nerve Function of Patients Undergoing Modified Radical Mastectomy.

This study aimed to postoperatively evaluate the effects of intraoperative neural monitoring (IONM) on muscles and nerves in patients who underwent modified radical mastectomy (MRM). In the 11 patients included in the study, nerves were determined and protected by nerve monitoring during the axillary dissection (IONM group). In another 11 patients, nerve monitoring was not performed; however, protection of the same nerves was attempted through careful nerve dissection (cautious nerve dissection [CND] group). The control group consisted of 22 healthy subjects. Muscle and nerve functions were blindly evaluated by an experienced physical therapy and rehabilitation specialist using electromyography (EMG) and ultrasonography (US) methods. The EMG values of the pectoralis major muscle were similar in the IONM and control groups (1.97 mV/1.98 mV, p = 0.97) but significantly lower in the CND group (1.57 mV, p < 0.05). Significant differences were found in the US values of the pectoralis major and minor muscles between the IONM and CND groups. No significant difference was found between the IONM and control groups in terms of EMG values of the serratus anterior muscle. This is the first prospective randomized study to objectively evaluate preservation of the nerve through nerve monitoring and its functional results. Monitoring of nerves during MRM is of great importance in terms of demonstrating the positive effects on muscle and nerve functions.

New Findings on Autoimmune Etiology of Idiopathic Granulomatous Mastitis: Serum IL-17, IL-22 and IL-23 Levels of Patients.

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic Granulomatous Mastitis (IGM) is a benign chronic inflammatory breast disease that mimics breast cancer, and the etiopathogenesis has not yet been fully evaluated. Autoimmunity has received the most focus as a possible etiology. Our aim in this prospective clinical study was to investigate the possible association between the cytokines, interleukin IL-17, IL-22, IL-23 and IGM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The current study was conducted in 26 women with histopathologically diagnosed IGM, and 15 control women of reproductive age having no breast disease history. Blood samples were collected, and serum concentrations of IL-17, IL-22, and IL-23 were determined. RESULTS: In the analysis of variables, the patients with IGM and the control group had statistically significant differences between serum IL-22 titers (p = 0.0378) and IL-23 titers (p = 0.0469. No statistically significant difference was found between IGM patients and the control group in serum IL-17 titers (p = 0.9724). CONCLUSION: The results of the current study, especially pertaining to serum IL-22 and IL-23 levels, support the etiopathogenesis of IGM in favor of the autoinflammatory thesis. Nevertheless, this thesis should be supported by a large case number and prospective clinical studies.

Hearing the Voices of Wingless Angels: A Critical Content Analysis of Nurses' COVID-19 Experiences.

The world has been affected by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Health care workers are among those most at risk of contracting the virus. In the fight against the coronavirus, nurses play a critical role. Still, most social media platforms demonstrate that nurses fear that their health is not being prioritized. The purpose of this study is to investigate nurses' experiences through analyzing the main themes shared on Instagram by nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast with highly structured research, the current paper highlights nurses' natural language use in describing their experiences during the first months of the outbreak in their workplace. Instagram captions were utilized as a data source. Leximancer was utilized for the content analysis of nurses' narratives towards their coronavirus experience. We sought to accomplish three research objectives: the first was to identify the main themes in the descriptions of nurses' experiences shared via their social media, specifically Instagram; then, to determine the relationships among concepts, and finally, to give useful implications based on the findings. The current study uses a qualitative (i.e., narratives) approach to analyze the main components of the nurses' experiences during the pandemic. The Leximancer software analysis revealed nine major textual themes and the relationships among these themes. In order of the relative importance, the themes were "patients", "coronavirus", "exhaustion", "family", "hospital", "personal protective equipment" (PPE), "shift", "fear", and "uncertainty". The results offer practical implications based on the social media information regarding nurses' overall experiences.

Correlation of pelvic fractures and associated injuries: An analysis of 471 pelvic trauma patients.

BACKGROUND: In most respects, the vast majority of pelvic injuries is not of a life-threatening status, but co-presence of other injuries needs to be diagnosed. This study aims to evaluate associated pelvic and extra-pelvic visceral organ injuries of the patients with closed pelvic fractures. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted with 471 adult patients who had been admitted to our Emergency Service with the diagnosis of pelvic fractures. Type of fractures, accompanying visceral organ injuries, the demographic data, type of operation, mortality rates were recorded and analysed statistically. RESULTS: The rate of operations carried out by the general surgery clinic or other surgical clinics in each type of fracture according to AO classification did not differ (p=0.118). In patients with A2, A3 and B1 types of fractures, the operation rate of general surgery clinic did not show a significant difference. However, most of the patients who had extrapelvic surgery were in the mild severity pelvic trauma, such as AO A2 and A3. A total of 31 patients were ex-patients, 17 of whom had AO-A2 type of fractures. The findings showed that there was a significant difference between abdominal ultrasonography outcome that was normal and non-orthopedic surgery types (p<0.001). There was no significant difference between the types of surgery performed and Abdominal CT outcome, which was normal (p=0.215). CONCLUSION: In the management of patients with pelvic fractures irrespective of its type or grade, the findings suggests that greater attention should be paid to not to overlook the associated injuries. Early blood and imaging tests are encouraged after the patient's hemodynamic status is stabilized.

The effect on morbidity of the use of prophylactic abdominal drain following elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical role of the routine use of a drain in an elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy operation applied to patients with symptomatic cholelithiasis not showing acute inflammation. METHOD: Following laparoscopic removal of the gallbladder, patients were separated into two groups of 30 each, either with subhepatic drain placement or without. The presence of subhepatic fluid collection was evaluated with transabdominal ultrasonography (USG) at 24 hours postoperatively and on the 7th day. The other parameters evaluated were postoperative morbidity, shoulder and abdominal pain. RESULTS: No statistically significant difference was found between the two groups in respect of demographic characteristics and operative details. The median pain score was determined to be statistically significantly higher in the group with a drain applied compared to the group without a drain (p=0.007). In the comparison between the groups of fluid collection on USG at 24 hours and shoulder pain persisting until the 7th day, although seen less in the group with no drain applied, no statistically significant difference was determined (p=0.065, p=0.159). In the examinations made on the 7th day, no hematoma or significant fluid collection was determined on USG and no wound infection was observed in any patient of either group. CONCLUSION: The routine application of prophylactic subhepatic drain in laparoscopic cholecystectomy procedure did not show any benefit to the patient.

Mortality determiners for fall from height cases.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of body mass index (BMI) and trauma severity score systems on the mortality rates of patients undergoing surgery due to falls from height. METHODS: This retrospective study included 45 consecutive adult patients with multitrauma who were admitted and operated on due to a fall from height between January 2008 and December 2016. Patients were divided into mortality and recovery groups (n=10 and n=35, respectively). The groups were compared in terms of age, gender, weight, cause of the fall, height of the fall, location of the fall, BMI, trauma scores (Injury Severity Score [ISS], New Injury Severity Score [NISS], Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS], Abbreviated Injury Score [AIS], Revised Trauma Score [RTS]), hospital stay, and postoperative complications. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of age, gender, and height or cause of the fall (p>0.05), whereas there was a statistically significant difference with respect to weight and BMI values (p<0.01). A statistically significant difference was determined between the groups in terms of hospital stay and postoperative complications (p<0.01) and ISS, NISS, GCS, AIS, and RTS scores (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The effect of weight and BMI on the mortality rate of patients presenting with trauma as a result of a fall from height was objectively demonstrated in the present study.

Effect of postoperative ischemia on steroid hormone receptors and c-erbB-2 levels in breast cancer tissue.

OBJECTIVES: Postoperative ischemia could affect the evaluation of breast cancer tissue for steroid hormone receptors and c-erbB2 levels until fixation using formalin. The misevaluation of steroid hormone receptors and c-erbB2 levels, which are important prognostic factors in the treatment of breast cancer, could change treatment options. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of postoperative ischemia on a breast cancer tissue sample, particularly on steroid hormone receptors and c-erbB2 expression level. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty patients who underwent modified radical mastectomy were included in this study. Two histopathological methods, namely frozen and regular follow-up methods, were performed postoperatively on all specimens. Steroid hormone receptors, estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and c-erbB2 expression of breast cancer tissue samples were evaluated using both techniques. Two groups were created based on the results of steroid hormone receptors and c-erbB2 expression levels using the two histopathological techniques. RESULTS: We determined that ischemia has an adverse effect on the evaluation of steroid hormone receptors and c-erbB2, especially its effect on c-erbB2 expression level was significant (p<0.002). CONCLUSION: A mastectomy specimen should be examined at once to ensure accurate detection of steroid hormone receptors and c-erbB2 levels for the proper treatment of breast cancer patients.

Comparison of modified Limberg flap transposition and lateral advancement flap transposition with Burow's triangle in the treatment of pilonidal sinus disease.

BACKGROUND: Although many options exist for surgical treatment of pilonidal sinus disease (PSD), consensus has not yet been achieved, as all surgical methods have various rates of complications, postoperative infection, and recurrence. METHODS: This study was a prospective, randomized, clinical trial, and was conducted with consecutive 100 patients admitted to Ankara Military Hospital General Surgery Service for treatment of PSD from May 2013 to August 2013. This study compared two surgical treatments for PSD: modified Limberg flap transposition and lateral advancement flap transposition with Burow's triangle. The patients received surgical treatment with either modified Limberg flap transposition (n = 50) or lateral advancement flap transposition with Burow's triangle (n = 50). Clinical healing period, length of hospital stay, operative time, postoperative complications including recurrence, wound dehiscence, and surgical site infection, as noted during postoperative follow-up period; Visual Analog Scale scores for pain. RESULTS: The mean follow-up period was 12 months. No significant differences were observed between the 2 groups in length of hospital stay (P = .515), operative time (P = .175), wound dehiscence (P = .645), and Visual Analog Scale pain scores (P = .112). The mean operative times were 42.5 minutes in the modified Limberg group and 40.0 minutes in the lateral advancement group. CONCLUSIONS: Although lateral advancement flap transposition with Burow's triangle is used less often than modified Limberg flap transposition, we could not determine a parameter that was statistically different such as operative time, postoperative complication, or the length of hospital stay. Hence, the lateral advancement flap is as viable an option as other more preferable techniques in the treatment of PSD, which particularly settled on the upper segment without a deep natal cleft.

Use of self-expanding covered stent and negative pressure wound therapy to manage late rectal perforation after injury from an improvised explosive device: a case report.

Blast injuries, caused by explosions accompanied by high-pressure waves, produce tissue damage in the acute period, followed in the later period by circulatory disorders due to vascular endothelial damage and related tissue necrosis. Blunt rectal perforation is rare and difficult to diagnose. In the acute period following blast pelvic injuries, the main objectives are to stop bleeding, minimise contamination and preserve the patient's life. The patient in this report had major vascular injuries, severe pelvic injury and, in the later period, rectal perforation because of vascular endothelial damage caused by the blast effect. Our aim was to treat the patient conservatively because of his poor general condition. We placed a self-expanding covered stent (SECS) into the rectum and then applied negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT; V.A.C.® Therapy, KCI) to the pelvic region and perirectal area. At the end of the treatment, the rectal perforation was closed, and the patient was discharged with healing. In this article, we discuss the novel use of an SECS with NPWT and review related literature.

Effectiveness of N-butyl cyanoacrylate-based microbial skin sealant on the prevention of surgical site infections.

BACKGROUND: Surgical site infections (SSIs) are a serious concern in health care, and wound contamination by endogenous skin flora is a major factor in the development of SSIs. Despite preventive tactics in pre-operative skin care, antibiotic prophylaxis, surgical technique, and post-operative incision care, complete sterilization of the skin is not possible. Recently developed microbial skin sealant forms a continuous but breathable barrier that prevents migration of endogenous skin flora into the incision. The skin sealant closes dermal microabrasions, preventing re-colonization of potential pathogens at the incision. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of an N-butyl cyanoacrylate-based microbial skin sealant in reducing the occurrence of SSIs in an experimental rodent model. METHODS: This was a randomized, controlled animal trial. Forty-eight Wistar albino rats were divided into six groups of eight rats each. Three groups received application of sealant against specific bacteria, and three matched control groups received only the bacteria without the sealant. Group one underwent pre-operative hair removal, followed by application of skin sealant, then abdominal incision and closure. Group two (control) simply underwent hair removal, followed by incision and closure, with no skin sealant applied. Group three received an application of cage swabs (containing a mixture of urine, stool and sawdust from the animals' cages) before application of skin sealant, and group four (control) received cage swabs without subsequent skin sealant. Group five received methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) followed by skin sealant, and group six (control) received MRSA without skin sealant. Seven days after surgery, the animals were sacrificed. Samples were taken from the abdomen of each rat and placed in culture medium. Proliferation of the following bacteria were observed: Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), gram-positive bacilli (GPB), Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and MRSA. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference between the median number of GPB in the group that received cage swabs+sealant and the group that received cage swabs without sealant (median, GPB count 29,430 colony-forming units [CFU]/g vs 359,100 colony-forming units [CFU]/g; p<0.05). The study results showed that microbial skin sealant was not as effective in preventing CoNS or MRSA contamination as it was in preventing GPB contamination. CONCLUSIONS: Use of a microbial skin sealant before surgery can lower the rate of SSIs by reducing the migration of some specific bacterial agents. Additional data are needed to validate its use in clinical practice.