Syndactylism with keloid scar formation.

A 19-year-old Arab woman who was previously operated on to desyndactylize her right second and third digits is presented in this case report. The patient's toes resyndactylized postoperatively and a keloid scar developed on the dorsum of her incision site. Syndactylism of digits is often discussed when involving the hand.

Systemic effects of low-power laser irradiation on the peripheral and central nervous system, cutaneous wounds, and burns.

In this paper, we direct attention to the systemic effect of low-power helium-neon (HeNe) laser irradiation on the recovery of the injured peripheral and central nervous system, as well as healing of cutaneous wounds and burns. Laser irradiation on only the right side in bilaterally inflicted cutaneous wounds enhanced recovery in both sides compared to the nonirradiated control group (P less than .01).

Extent of fiber regeneration after peripheral nerve repair: silicone splint vs. suture, gap repair vs. graft.

The degree of regeneration in surgically repaired sciatic nerves in rats was measured using a simple new electrophysiologic method: comparison of the size of nerve responses evoked by stimulation distal and proximal to the anastomosis. Five different repair procedures were evaluated. After simple end-to-end suture anastomosis, about 40% of the severed parent fibers regenerated past the suture line.

Collateral sprouting in skin and sensory recovery after nerve injury in man.

Two different modes of cutaneous sensory reinnervation are thought to be engaged following nerve injury: regenerative growth of the injured nerve and 'collateral sprouting' of neighboring intact nerves. Although both processes are well known from experimental preparations, there is little unequivocal documentation of collateral sprouting in human skin. We report here on 5 patients in whom at least partial recovery of sensation in the hand following traumatic or surgical nerve section was apparently based on collateral sprouting from nerves that had not themselves been injured.

Decreased adhesion formation in flexor tendons by topical application of enriched collagen solution--a histological study.

In order to improve gliding function of damaged flexor tendons in chickens, we topically applied enriched collagen solution (ECS) to the tendon sheaths of severed tendons. Previous studies using the same experimental model showed improvement of gliding function in the damaged tendons biomechanically and increased collagenolytic activity in the area of the damage after application of ECS. In the present study we evaluated the influence of ECS on peritendinous adhesion formation and on the healing process of the tendons histologically.