Rare Presentation of Ulnar Nerve Palsy in Closed Both Bone Forearm Fracture in Pediatric Population.

Introduction: Ulnar nerve injury in closed both bone forearm fracture is rare. Most nerve injuries are neuropraxia and rarely the nerve is trapped or is transected. Most of the time recovery is spontaneous but sometimes requires surgical exploration. We are reporting a case of a 14-year-old boy with closed both bone forearm fracture with ulnar nerve palsy due to entrapment and laceration between ulnar bone fracture fragment. Case Report: A 14-year-old boy presented in emergency department elsewhere with a left forearm closed injury due to fall while playing where he was diagnosed with both bone forearm shaft fracture with ulnar nerve palsy and was given an above elbow slab. After 3 days, the patient presented to our outpatient department (OPD) with completely absent sensation over little finger, ulnar aspect of ring finger, and ulnar clawing. No signs of compartment syndrome in the form of tense swelling or stretch pain were seen. There was a suspected ulnar nerve injury for which patient was admitted and posted for fracture fixation and exploration of the nerve in emergency which showed lacerated ulnar nerve trapped in fracture fragment. Open reduction and internal fixation with ulnar plating and radius titanium elastic nailing was done by orthopedic surgeon while ulnar nerve neurolysis and micro repair was subsequently done by plastic surgeon. There was no neurological recovery immediately post-operatively. Patient was discharged after 48 h and called for regular follow-up in OPD to assess fracture union and neurological recovery. There was gradual neurological recovery over the period of time. Complete motor and sensory recovery took place in 4 months. Conclusion: Ulnar nerve injury associated with close both bone forearm fracture is uncommon. They are usually associated with a contusion for which the treatment is basically conservative. Immediate nerve exploration and fracture fixation should be reserved for suspicious nerve laceration or entrapment within displaced fracture fragments on radiographs. This prevents delay and also avoids nerve sequelae to occur. Hence, high index of suspicion and complete neurological examination of the patient at first presentation is important to recognize and diagnose the type of nerve lesion early to decide upon the plan of management.

Minimising the donor area morbidity of radial forearm phalloplasty using prefabricated thigh flap: A new technique.

Phalloplasty is indicated in various conditions of penile loss or absence. There are numerous techniques for phalloplasty including the pedicle and free flaps with the ultimate goal of micturition in standing position, attaining adequate size, aesthesis and sensations for sexual intercourse. Radial forearm phalloplasty is the gold standard flap to achieve above results but gives a very bad scar on the forearm. We present a technique of using prefabricated thigh flap to reduce the morbidity of donor area. The descending branch of lateral circumflex femoral pedicle was placed in a subcutaneous plane over tissue expander. After attaining an adequate size of flap with tissue expansion, it was delayed 3 weeks before phalloplasty. Prefabricated flap was thin and of large size replicating the radial forearm flap used for phalloplasty. Whole forearm defect was covered with the thigh flap, and the thigh could be closed primarily. This new technique of using prefabricated thigh flap has significantly reduced the donor site morbidity both aesthetically and functionally without the use of skin grafting in the whole procedure.