Reduction of Phantom Limb Pain and Improved Proprioception through a TSR-Based Surgical Technique: A Case Series of Four Patients with Lower Limb Amputation.

Four patients underwent targeted sensory reinnervation (TSR), a surgical technique in which a defined skin area is first selectively denervated and then surgically reinnervated by another sensory nerve. In our case, either the area of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve or the saphenous nerve was reinnervated by the sural nerve. Patients were then fitted with a special prosthetic device capable of transferring the sense of pressure from the sole of the prosthesis to the newly wired skin area.

Prospective observation of Clostridium histolyticum collagenase for the treatment of Dupuytren's disease in 788 patients: the Austrian register.

Introduction: Since March 2011, the microbial collagenase of Clostridium histolyticum (Xiapex®, Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB, Stockholm, Sweden) has become available in the European Union for treatment of Dupuytren's disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate potential safety risks of Xiapex® and to contribute to a better understanding for its use.

Methods: A prospective, non-interventional, observational study using Xiapex® for Dupuytren's disease named XIANIS was conducted between 1.

Effect of extracorporeal shock wave treatment on deep partial-thickness burn injury in rats: a pilot study.

Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) enhances tissue vascularization and neoangiogenesis. Recent animal studies showed improved soft tissue regeneration using ESWT. In most cases, deep partial-thickness burns require skin grafting; the outcome is often unsatisfactory in function and aesthetic appearance.

The neuropeptide catestatin acts as a novel angiogenic cytokine via a basic fibroblast growth factor-dependent mechanism.

Rationale: The neuropeptide catestatin is an endogenous nicotinic cholinergic antagonist that acts as a pleiotropic hormone.

Objective: Catestatin shares several functions with angiogenic factors. We therefore reasoned that catestatin induces growth of new blood vessels.

Vascular anatomy of the supraclavicular area revisited: feasibility of the free supraclavicular perforator flap.

Background: The supraclavicular skin has been studied extensively and used as a pedicled flap for face and neck reconstruction. Its use as a free flap has not paralleled its use as a pedicled flap. The authors performed an anatomical investigation to assess the possibility of harvesting a free supraclavicular flap with the donor-site scar lying in the supraclavicular crease.

Anatomic study on the transverse cervical vessels perforators in the lateral triangle of the neck and harvest of a new flap: the free supraclavicular transverse cervical artery perforator flap.

Background: Vessels in the supraclavicular area and their contribution to skin vascularization have always been studied for flaps planning in head and neck reconstruction and many pedicled flaps have been described based on those vessels. Little has been written instead about the vascularization of the supraclavicular skin itself for the use as a free flap. The purpose of this anatomical study was to assess the vascularization of the supraclavicular skin and the possibility of finding an adequate pedicle to harvest it as a free flap in order to close the donor site directly.

Stabilization of microvascular pedicles in intricate locations using fibrin glue.

In reconstructive microsurgery, it is occasionally advantageous to use long recipient or donor vessels for optimal flap inset. These long vessels are prone to kinking or torsion along their longitudinal axis from vessel distension during blood inflow and rising blood pressure. More often than arteries, the veins can also be compressed by overlying tissue sutured under tension or by developing edema.

Refinements in pectus carinatum correction: the pectoralis muscle split technique.

Background: The standard approach for correction of pectus carinatum deformity includes elevation of the pectoralis major and rectus abdominis muscle from the sternum and adjacent ribs. A postoperative restriction of shoulder activity for several weeks is necessary to allow stable healing of the elevated muscles. To reduce postoperative immobilization, we present a modified approach to the parasternal ribs using a pectoralis muscle split technique.

Hypoxia up-regulates the angiogenic cytokine secretoneurin via an HIF-1alpha- and basic FGF-dependent pathway in muscle cells.

Expression of angiogenic cytokines like vascular endothelial growth factor is enhanced by hypoxia. We tested the hypothesis that decreased oxygen levels up-regulate the angiogenic factor secretoneurin. In vivo, muscle cells of mouse ischemic hind limbs showed increased secretoneurin expression, and inhibition of secretoneurin by a neutralizing antibody impaired the angiogenic response in this ischemia model.