Treatment of traumatic calcaneal osteomyelitis secondary to skin and soft tissue defects in children via absorbable antibacterial calcium sulfate combined with tissue flaps / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

Objective:To explore the feasibility and clinical results of absorbable antibacterial calcium sulfate combined with tissue flaps in the treatment of traumatic calcaneal osteomyelitis (CO) secondary to skin and soft tissue defects in children.Methods:From January 2007 to August 2020, 44 cases of children with heel skin and soft tissue defects associated with traumatic CO were treated and followed up effectively in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University.Among them, 17 cases were treated with absorbable calcium sulfate cement combined with tissue flaps as the calcium sulfate group, and 27 cases were treated with antibiotic polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) bead combined with tissue flaps as the membrane induction group.A comparison was drawn on the therapeutic effect, recurrence rate of postoperative infection, postoperative ankle mobility, number of operations, total length of hospital stays and hospitalization expenses between both groups.Results:The average follow-up time was 10.7 months in the calcium sulfate cement group and 9.3 months in the membrane induction group.All flaps were effective except for 3 cases who presented with small necrosis on the distal end of the sural neurovascular flaps.The recurrence rate of postoperative infection and the hospitalization expenses in the calcium sulfate group were lower than those in the membrane induction group, but the differences were not statically significant (all P>0.05). The postoperative ankle mobility [(63.6±9.3)°], number of operations [2(1.0, 2.0) times] and total length of hospital stay [6.1(4.5, 7.4) weeks] of the calcium sulfate group were significantly lower than those of the membrane induction group [(57.7±9.5)°, 2(2.0, 3.0) times, 7.0(5.0, 9.0) weeks], the difference were statistically significant (all P<0.05). Severe CO may cause structural damage to calcaneal tubercle or insertion site of achilles tendon, but the active plantar flexion function of ankles will be good despite the decrease in strength. Conclusions:The effect of absorbable antibacterial calcium sulfate cement combined with tissue flaps in the treatment of traumatic CO in children is favorable, and the number of operations, length of hospital stays and hospitalization expenses are relatively less compared with PMMA cement combined with tissue flaps.

A novel fluorinated polyimide surface with petal effect produced by electrospinning.

Superhydrophobic surfaces with strong adhesion to water droplets are drawing great attention due to their unique applications. In this communication, we propose a method to construct such surfaces with considerably strong solid-water adhesion. A novel fluorinated polyimide (FPI), was electrospun into dented nano and/or micro bowl-like particles linked with nanofibers. Surfaces consisting of such structures present robust superhydrophobicity as well as ultra high adhesion. A physical model is built to explain the generation of high adhesion on the revolutionary electrospun structures.