Successful interdisciplinary radical treatment of Mycobacterium fortuitum infection in a lipotourist from Germany after abdominoplasty in Turkey.

We report a case of a 30-year-old woman who experienced recurrent infections of the abdominal wall after travelling to Turkey from Germany to undergo abdominoplasty for aesthetic reasons. The patient's Mycobacterium fortuitum infection was successfully treated by surgery and antibiotic therapy. Surgical tourism-in this case, lipotourism-is resulting in an increasing number of patients in Europe who may present uncommon disease patterns.

[Abductor digiti minimi muscle flap for defect coverage of the hand]. / Die M.-abductor-digiti-minimi-Lappenplastik zur Defektdeckung im Handbereich.

OBJECTIVE: Defect coverage of the ulnar aspect of the hand, wrist and hypothenar with an abductor digiti minimi muscle flap and split skin graft. INDICATIONS: Soft tissue defects of the ulnar aspect of the hand, wrist and hypothenar. Osteomyelitis of the fifth metacarpal bone. CONTRAINDICATIONS: Large defects > 3 × 5 cm, complex hand trauma, injuries of the ulnar artery or within the area of the pedicle. SURGICAL TECHNIQUE: Marking of the flap's rotational radius, using the pisiform bone as the center point. Ulnar skin incision and exposure and detachment of the distal flap pole, which is located at the level of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint. Dissection of the abductor digiti minimi muscle flap up to the vascular pedicle in the area of the pisiform bone. Transposition and fixation of the flap onto the defect after opening of the tourniquet. Coverage of the muscle flap with a split skin graft. Wound closure of the donor side. POSTOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT: Palmar cast splinting in intrinsic-plus position for 10 days physiotherapy. Scar care and compression glove for 3 months. RESULTS: In total, 9 patients showed good results with a reliable defect coverage due to a constant anatomy and easy preparation.

Posterior interosseus nerve vs. medial cutaneous nerve of the forearm: differences in digital nerve reconstruction.

Digital nerve defects are common in hand trauma and for primary or secondary nerve reconstruction, the autologous nerve graft remains the gold standard. This study compares the regeneration results and donor side morbidity of either the posterior interosseus nerve (PIN) graft or the medial antebrachial cutaneous nerve (MACN) graft. 16 patients (group A, age 43 ± 13 years) with digital nerve defects were treated with a PIN graft and 12 patients (group B, age 40 ± 15 years) received a MACN graft. The average nerve gap was 22 mm in each group. After a follow-up of 15 ± 8 months in group A, S4-sensibility were measured in 9 cases, S3+ in 5 cases and in 1 case S2 and S0. Up to an inconspicuously scar in projection of the fourth extensor-tendon compartment, there was no significant donor side morbidity. In group B, a S4-senibility has been obtained in 4 cases, S3+ in 5 cases, S3, S2 and S0 in each 1 case after a follow-up of 16 ± 11 months. Regarding the donor side morbidity, almost all patients complained about a disturbing scar formation and unpleasant paresthesia at the forearm down to the rascetta. Neuroma-associated pain has been detected in 4 cases. Although there has been no significant difference in terms of nerve regeneration, we recommend the use of the PIN graft for digital nerve reconstruction, since harvesting this nerve is fast and easy and without any donor side morbidity compared to the MACN graft.

[Repetitive thermal self-manipulation in borderline personality disorder]. / Die repetitive thermische Selbstverletzung im Rahmen der Borderline-Persönlichkeitsstörung.

Self-mutilations are one of the major characteristics of patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Thermal injuries of BPD should be treated by a plastic surgeon who is faced to a challenge in the plastic-reconstructive strategy because of the most complex psychiatric disease. This means the need of a multidisciplinary strategy. Based on 3 case reports such conflict between best plastic reconstructive treatment of the burns wound and the psychiatric limit with the appropriate therapy options are presented.

[Mechanical ventilation in toxic epidermal necrolysis]. / Beatmung bei Toxisch Epidermaler Nekrolyse.

INTRODUCTION: Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is associated with a high mortality. The need for mechanical ventilation is associated with an increased mortality in TEN patients. This study investigates the impact of the timing of initiation of the mechanical ventilation on the survival of TEN patients. PATIENTS, MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study of 26 TEN patients was carried out. Primary (on admission (group A) and secondary ventilation (>1 day after admission (group B) were analysed for an association with mortality. RESULTS: 8 patients did not require mechanical ventilation. 18 patients needed mechanical ventilation. In group A 8 patients with an epidermolytic body surface area (BSA) of 73 ± 16% and a mean SCORTEN of 3.2 ± 1.1 were analysed. In group B 10 patients with an epidermolytic BSA of 76 ± 19% and a mean SCORTEN of 3.8 ± 0.9 were evaluated. Statistical analysis showed an increased mortality in all mechanically ventilated compared with non-ventilated TEN patients (Odds ratio: 2.0; 95% CI: 1.26-3.17 p = 0.013). CONCLUSIONS: Mechanical ventilation in TEN patients is associated with an increased mortality rate, but the timing of initiation of mechanical ventilation does not affect the patient survival rates.

[Heterotopic ossifications in major burn injuries : An interdisciplinary challenge]. / Heterotope Ossifikationen bei Schwerbrandverletzten : Eine interdisziplinäre Herausforderung.

Heterotopic ossifications in peri-articular tissue can appear after severe head injury, spinal trauma or local joint trauma. Following extensive burns, heterotopic ossifications are a rare, but severe complication with an unknown pathogenesis. In a retrospective analysis of 672 patients who were treated in our burn center over the last 10 years we identified 5 cases (0.74%) of heterotopic ossification.

Joseph Beuys: trauma and catharsis.

Joseph Beuys was one of the most significant artists of the 20th century. He was a gunner and radio operator in the German Air Force during World War II, and was severely injured several times. In March 1943 he had a life-changing experience after the dive bomber he was assigned to crashed in the Crimean peninsula. This trauma influenced Beuys' entire artistic career, and is known in art history as the 'Tartar Legend' or 'Tartar Myth'. Profoundly affected by the crash, the severe trauma, the near-death experience and his rescue, which he perceived as a "rebirth", Beuys no longer saw himself, other people or society as a whole in the same way as previously. With his new consciousness, he ignored boundaries and created visions whereby all mankind could experience the healing he had undergone. Beuys did not bring society far enough for the turning point towards "the healing of the world" to be visible, yet today it is important to keep his work alive as a record of his extraordinary strength, which arose from trauma and severe injury, and was carried by a passionate commitment to mankind and to life itself.