Developing a standardized test for the assessment of suturing skill in novice microsurgeons.

Suturing performance was assessed for 13 novice microsurgeons throughout a 4-5 day microsurgical training course. Time to complete a suture (from needle insertion to completion of tie-off) was assessed on a standardized suture task, for two sutures at the beginning and end of each training day. For days 2-4, suturing performance with actual tissue was also assessed at both the beginning and end of each day.

Perichondrial arthroplasty in a canine elbow model: comparison of vascularized and nonvascularized techniques.

The purpose of this study was to use a canine model to compare the ability of vascularized and nonvascularized perichondrial grafts to resurface an experimental joint defect. In five adult mongrel dogs, a 3 x 2 cm segment of perichondrium, subtended by the intercostal-internal mammary vessels, was harvested and transplanted to a surgically created defect on the ulnar condyle of the humerus. A similar defect in the opposite elbow was repaired with a 3 x 2 cm standard perichondrial graft.

The free medial scapular osteofasciocutaneous flap for head and neck reconstruction.

A modification of the scapular free flap has been developed using the medial ridge of the scapula. This variation preserves the advantages of the previously described lateral scapular flap, providing abundant hairless skin and soft tissue, adequate bone for mandibular reconstruction, and a primarily closed asymptomatic and inconspicuous donor site. It adds the advantage of a longer vascular pedicle and enhanced versatility because it is independent of the parascapular artery.

Differential staining of different types of peripheral nerve and muscle.

We modified Ungewitter's (1951) and Beermann and Cassens' (1976) non-selective silver methods for peripheral nerve axons and their terminals by lengthening the time for the prestaining treatment of sections, adjusting the times of various stages of the staining procedures and selecting reagents with minimal chloride and sulphate impurities. These methods were applied to Bouin's fixed material embedded in wax with serial sections up to 100 micron thick, cut longitudinally. The Ungewitter modification stained sensory axons and their terminals very well but failed to give good impregnations of motor fibres.