Purpose: Digital replantation is a technically difficult microsurgery requiring significant surgical skill. The aim of this study was to investigate postoperative outcomes associated with the surgical learning curve for microvascular digital replantation.
Methods: A prospectively maintained surgical database of consecutive patients who underwent digital replantation from 2002 to 2012 was reviewed.
Objective: Central sensitization (CS) with low peripheral pain thresholds (PPTs) is a common finding among patients with chronic pain after whiplash (CPWI). While it has been proposed that myofascial myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) may act as modulators of central sensitization, previously reported findings are conflicting and inconclusive. The present study was designed to investigate immediate responsiveness of CS to alterations in nociceptive input.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe management strategy proposed herein for fingertip amputations advocates secondary healing with preservation of appearance as well as function. Conservative healing is more likely to result in a sensate, nontender, and cosmetically acceptable fingertip compared to surgical management in many clinical scenarios. This manuscript examines in detail the extent of fingertip injury and defines the relationship of injury to final fingertip outcome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlast Reconstr Surg
January 2012
Unlabelled: This technique represents a surgical adjunct for the management of chronic, localized pain in patients who continue to have pain despite exhaustive prior evaluation and treatment. The patient-guided approach was used in 10 patients referred with "intractable pain" and yielded good to excellent results in all but one patient. When applied selectively to cases with significantly distorted anatomy or previous failed interventions, this simple technique can minimize dissection and unnecessary resection, while offering relief to a patient population otherwise resigned to a life with chronic pain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrimary Objective: Chiari malformation is defined as herniation of the cerebellar tonsils through the foramen magnum, also known as cerebellar tonsillar ectopia (CTE). CTE may become symptomatic following whiplash trauma. The purpose of the present study was to assess the frequency of CTE in traumatic vs non-traumatic populations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Chronic problems from whiplash trauma generally include headache, pain and neck stiffness that may prove refractory to conservative treatment modalities. As has previously been reported, such afflicted patients may experience significant temporary relief with injections of local anesthetic to painful trigger points in muscles of the shoulder and neck, or lasting symptomatic improvement through surgical excision of myofascial trigger points. In a subset of patients who present with chronic whiplash syndrome, the clinical findings suggest an affliction of the spinal accessory nerve (CN XI, SAN) by entrapment under the fascia of the trapezius muscle.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Brachial Plex Peripher Nerve Inj
July 2009
Introduction: Chronic neck pain after whiplash is notoriously refractory to conservative treatment, and positive radiological findings to explain the symptoms are scarce. The apparent disproportionality between subjective complaints and objective findings is significant for the planning of treatment, impairment ratings, and judicial questions on causation. However, failure to identify a symptom's focal origin with routine imaging studies does not invalidate the symptom per se.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Brachial Plex Peripher Nerve Inj
April 2009
Objective: It has been established that chronic neck pain following whiplash is associated with the phenomenon of central sensitization, in which injured and uninjured parts of the body exhibit lowered pain thresholds due to an alteration in central pain processing. it has furthermore been hypothesized that peripheral sources of nociception in the muscles may perpetuate central sensitization in chronic whiplash. the hypothesis explored in the present study was whether myofascial trigger points serve as a modulator of central sensitization in subjects with chronic neck pain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArch Facial Plast Surg
January 2007
Object: The standard techniques for repair of peripheral nerve injuries with neuroma formation are typically suboptimal. To begin to explore alternative techniques, the authors used an established model in rodents by using end-to-side "terminolateral" neurorrhaphies (TLNs) to study alternative grafting techniques. The TLN "jump grafts" bypass a neuromain-continuity, hypothetically maintaining functional units within the neuroma to facilitate functional regeneration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Pediatr Orthop
November 2005
Although surgical treatment of brachial plexus birth palsy has yielded encouraging results, persistent inability to abduct and elevate the shoulder is common even in children with excellent return of arm and hand function. The reason for deltoid weakness in the afflicted children is not completely understood and may be multifactorial. Clinical observations, including a pattern of position-dependent weakness, suggest that primary nerve damage may not be the sole cause.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudy Design: Case report of a patient with a whiplash-associated disorder following a bumper car collision. Imaging studies failed to provide an anatomic explanation for the debilitating symptoms.
Objectives: To report a chronic, debilitating pain syndrome after a low-velocity bumper car collision while using complex range-of-motion data for the diagnosis, prognosis, and surgical indication in whiplash-associated disorder.
Cost containment plays an increasingly important role in health care, affecting providers and recipients. The present investigation addressed a limited number of factors that relate to the total cost for surgical treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome. The purpose of this study was to compare socioeconomic factors in two different societies and how worker's compensation plays a role in the cost, rehabilitation, and operative practices.
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