Understanding the Impact and Misconceptions of Rural Plastic Surgery.

In the United States, 54 million people live in a designated health service area with either no plastic surgeon or less than 1 plastic surgeon per 100,000 population. Previous studies demonstrate that patients in rural communities often have limitations with access to basic primary care services and subspecialty care services. Such limitations can have significant adverse impacts on health care and quality of life. Plastic and reconstructive surgeons offer unique advantages especially within rural settings given their broad scope of surgical skillsets. The purposes of this study are to illustrate the shortage of plastic and reconstructive surgeons within rural America catchment regions, identify and outline certain care offerings provided by these surgical specialists, and highlight the potential impact having such specialists directly involved in provision of care to patients within rural community settings. Our group will present data demonstrating misperceptions and an unawareness by hospital administrators on routine care services provided through plastic surgery practices. We will also report on selective surgical offerings of 2 rural-based plastic surgeons and outline certain financial and reimbursement findings from their practices, while also illustrating the impact of their practice on their patients and the health care systems they provide coverage.

Use of the medial femoral condyle vascularized bone flap in traumatic avascular necrosis of the navicular: a case report.

The medial femoral condyle vascularized bone flap has a high success rate in published literature regarding its use in nonunions and avascular necrosis of the upper and lower extremities. It is reported to have minimal donor site morbidity and the ability to provide structural support and torsional strength to load-bearing areas. The flap has found particular success in the treatment of scaphoid nonunions. The tarsal navicular, similar to the scaphoid, is largely articular cancellous bone with little surface area for vascular inflow. These anatomic features make the navicular prone to nonunion and avascular necrosis in traumatic scenarios. We describe a case of nonunion and avascular necrosis of the tarsal navicular occurring as sequelae of a high-impact midfoot injury sustained in an automobile accident. After an initial attempt at open reduction and internal fixation with midfoot bridge plating, subsidence and nonunion resulted. An attempt at arthrodesis of the talonavicular and naviculocuneiform joints was then undertaken. This too failed, leading to the development of additional collapse and avascular necrosis. The site was treated with a medial femoral condyle vascularized bone flap. In this single case, the patient returned to pain-free ambulation and reported excellent outcomes and functional capacity. Although we present a successful case, a larger case series is necessary to establish the use of this flap as a reliable option for the treatment of nonunion and avascular necrosis of the tarsal navicular.

Endovascular papillary angioendothelioma (Dabska tumor): underrecognized malignant tumor in childhood.

Endovascular papillary angioendothelioma, or Dabska tumor, was first presented in 1969 by Maria Dabska where she presented cases occurring in 6 children. The tumor was described as being a low-grade angiosarcoma characterized by papillary endovascular proliferations of atypical endothelial cells and anastomosing vascular channels within the dermis. Since its original description, only 30 case reports have been written describing the varying presentation, clinical course, and histopathology of this tumor. This case report documents the presentation and management of endovascular papillary angioendothelioma in a young male and reviews the current literature. Because more cases of EPAs are reported, perhaps a more standard approach to accurate diagnosis and treatment with surgical intervention and pathologic recognition via microscopy and immunohistochemistry can be determined.