Safety of neonatal cleft lip repair.

The timing of repair of a cleft lip continues to be debated. One of the reasons for delaying operation has been the belief that there is an increased risk of anaesthesia during the neonatal period. As a contribution to this debate we have analysed the anaesthetic and surgical complications of neonatal cleft lip repair undertaken at a single centre.

Spontaneous cecum perforation following rectus abdominis free flap transfer for isolated lower limb trauma.

A case of a 32-year-old motorcyclist, who sustained an open comminuted fracture of the left tibia and subsequently developed spontaneous cecal perforation following successful fixation of the fracture and reconstruction of the soft tissue defect with a rectus abdominis free flap, is reported. Although benign cecal perforation has been described in patients with thermal burns and blunt trauma of the abdomen or pelvis, our association has not been reported previously in the medical literature. It is important to recognize cecal perforation early as it is associated with a high mortality from peritonitis and septicaemia.

Accidental burn injury during knee arthroscopy.

A case is described in which hot irrigation fluid used during a routine knee arthroscopy caused severe morbidity. The patient sustained full-thickness skin burns requiring debridement, a muscle flap, and split-skin grafting. The extent of the joint damage required fusion.

The ski jump deformity of the distal phalanx: a new entity?

A case of a congenital hand anomaly is presented in which the distal phalanx of the little finger was curving dorsally in the sagittal plane. This may be the first reported case. A surgical approach to correct it is described.

The congenital cervical midline cleft. Case report and review of literature.

Congenital midline cervical clefts (CMCC) are rare. There have been approximately 50 reports in the international literature with the majority found in Caucasian females. They consist of a skin tag, mucosal surface and a caudal sinus in the ventral midline of the neck.

Treatment of keloids by surgical excision and immediate postoperative single-fraction radiotherapy.

The authors report the outcomes of patients with keloid scars treated with a protocol of extralesional excision and immediate single-fraction adjuvant radiotherapy. The design of the study was a retrospective analysis with up to 5-year outcome data. The setting was a single treatment team, University Teaching Hospital in London, United Kingdom.