Role of a Plastic Surgeon in the Management of Local Manifestations of Snakebite in a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Prospective Single-Center Case Series.

 There is a paucity of literature regarding the management of snakebite site complications. The wound complications can have debilitating sequelae, most of which may require reconstruction.  This is a prospective single-institution observational study conducted from November 2019 to December 2021.

Open tendoachilles injuries due to squatting type of toilet seats: Five-year prospective observational study from a tertiary care center in India.

Background: Open traumatic tendoachilles injuries due to toilet seats are least reported. The exact mechanism of such injuries is debatable. None of the studies have reported associated neurovascular injuries and the need for microvascular tissue transfer.

Management of Wounds with Exposed Bones or Tendons in Children by Vacuum-Assisted Closure Therapy: A Prospective Study.

 The management of complex soft tissue defects with exposed bones/tendons is always a challenging task for the surgeon and the problem becomes more pronounced when it comes to the management of these wounds in children. Though flap procedures are considered the standard for managing the complex soft tissue defects with exposed bones/tendons yet small blood vessels for anastomosis, long operative period, increased chances of perioperative thrombosis, and difficult perioperative management in children add to the difficulty in performing flap procedures in children. The vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) therapy has emerged as a novel modality for the management of the difficult wounds with added advantages, especially in children.

Contralateral lumbo-umbilical flap: A versatile technique for volar finger coverage.

Background: While contemplating any difficult soft tissue reconstruction, patient comfort and compliance is of paramount importance. Reconstruction of the volar aspect of fingers and hand by the ipsilateral pedicled flaps (groin flap, abdominal flaps) is demanding as the flap inset is difficult for the surgeon and very uncomfortable for the patient. This often leads to flap complications.

Role of customised negative-pressure wound therapy in the integration of split-thickness skin grafts: A randomised control study.

Background: Split-thickness skin grafting (STSG) is a time-tested technique in wound cover, but many factors lead to suboptimal graft take. Role of custom-made negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is compared with conventional dress in the integration of STSG and its cost is compared with widely used commercially available NPWT.

Materials And Methods: This is a parallel group randomised control study.

Footboards: Indigenous and Novel Method of Screening for Diabetes Peripheral Neuropathy - A Pilot Study.

Background: To validate the effectiveness of indigenously designed "footboard (FB)" in early diagnosis of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (PNP) by comparing it with Semmes-Weinstein monofilament (SWM) and vibration perception (VP).

Materials And Methods: Two hundred and forty-four patients with diabetes were examined for PNP using SWM and 128 Hz tuning fork. The findings were compared with indigenously designed FBs with 1, 2, and 3 mm elevations.

Perforator Flaps for Reconstruction of Lower Limb Defects.

Background: Reconstruction of soft tissue defects in the lower third of the leg remains challenging. Anatomical constraints limit the local options available for complex defects especially lower third of leg. Local flaps based on perforator vessels are raising interest in reconstructive surgery of the limbs.

Silicone Foley's catheter as an effective alternative to Hunter's rod in staged flexor tendon reconstruction of the hand.

Context: Staged flexor tendon reconstruction is most suitable treatment method for extensive zone II tendon injuries. The Hunter's rod used in this procedure is costly and not easily available, which adds to the miseries of both patients as well as treating surgeon.

Aims: The aim of this study is to evaluate the results of staged zone II flexor tendon repair using silicone Foley's catheter as a cheaper and readily available alternative to Hunter's rod.

Bear maul craniocerebral trauma in Kashmir Valley.

Craniocerebral injuries constitute the bulk of the trauma patients in all the tertiary-care hospitals. Bear attacks as a cause of trauma to the brain and its protective covering are rare. This was a hospital-based retrospective (January 1990 to July 2005) and prospective study (August 2005 to December 2010).

Isolated aglossia in a six year old child presenting with impaired speech: a case report.

Introduction: The most mobile organ of the body, the tongue is associated with various congenital anomalies; most of which are in association with many other systemic abnormalities. Rarely do they occur in isolation. Isolated aglossia, that we presented, is one of the more rare presentations.

Incidence and pattern of bear maul injuries in Kashmir.

Background: Injuries due to mauling by bears are rarely reported in the literature. The high incidence of such injuries in Kashmir, India, which is a valley surrounded by dense forests and is a habitat of Asiatic Black bears, urged us to undertake such a study in our department.

Materials And Methods: The study was conducted both retrospectively (January 1990-July 2005) and prospectively (August 2005-December 2007).

An unusual case of frost bite autoamputation of toes.

Background: We report a case of a 15 year old young female who suffered autoamputation of left mid foot and four digits of right foot following repeated application of snow to relieve the pain in her frost bitten feet.

Case Presentation: The sociodemographic background, cause, resulting injury and subsequent management are discussed.

Conclusion: Such injuries are relatively rare but awareness of the risk of this type of injury is important.