Chronic postoperative pain and sensory changes following reduction mammaplasty.

Background Few studies have examined persistent pain after reduction mammaplasty, and sensory changes remain a controversial subject with studies reporting both reduced, improved, and unchanged skin sensitivity following surgery. The aim of the present study was to describe the prevalence, character, and impact of sensory changes and persistent pain following breast reduction surgery and to assess possible causes and predictors of persistent sensory changes and chronic pain. Methods In May 2010, a detailed questionnaire was mailed to all 109 patients who underwent reduction mammaplasty at the Department of Plastic Surgery, Aalborg Hospital from September 2004 to February 2010.

[Cost-effective change in treatment after split skin grafting to lower leg defects].

We present a clinical comparison of short stretch bandage versus a two-layer compression bandage and early mobilization after split skin grafting to lower leg defects. A total of 38 patients were included. The first group were immobilized for four days and given a short stretch support bandage.

Persistent pain after surgery for cutaneous melanoma.

Objectives: Chronic pain is a well-known complication after surgery, but the prevalence of persistent pain after melanoma surgery is unknown. This study examined the prevalence and predictors of persistent pain after melanoma surgery.

Methods: Between September 2005 and June 2009, 448 patients underwent surgery for cutaneous melanoma at the Department of Plastic Surgery, Aalborg Hospital.

Persistent pain after lymph node excision in patients with malignant melanoma is neuropathic.

Persistent postoperative pain is a common complication of surgery, including surgical interventions for cancer. So far, there is limited information about the prevalence and clinical characteristics of pain after lymph node biopsy and dissection in patients with malignant melanoma. In this study, a questionnaire was sent out to all surviving patients (n=402) after surgery for cutaneous malignant melanoma at the Aalborg Hospital Department of Plastic Surgery, Aalborg, Denmark.

[Unusual long-term survival following non-radical treatment of oral mucosal melanoma].

Malignant mucosal melanomas are rare and aggressive. The five-year survival rate for malignant oral melanomas is 15%. A case of a 65-year old male with progressive melanosis in the oral mucus and development of four malignant melanomas during a 15-year follow-up period is presented.

[Adult onset xanthogranuloma in a 73-year-old woman].

Adult onset xanthogranuloma (AOX) is a rare benign xanthogranulomatous disease with unknown aetiology and incidence. AOX presents as yellow-brownish skin tumours of different sizes, mostly as solitary lesions, but also as multiple lesions with predilection areas on the face and collum. We here present the case of a 73-year-old woman, who was treated for third and fourth facial AOX recurrences by surgical excisions at the Department of Plastic Surgery, Aalborg Hospital.

Persistent pain and sensory changes following cosmetic breast augmentation.

Background: Persistent postsurgical pain has been reported following cosmetic breast augmentation, but little is known about the underlying mechanisms.

Aims: To describe the prevalence, character, and impact of sensory changes and chronic pain following cosmetic breast augmentation and to assess possible causes of pain.

Methods: In September 2009, a detailed questionnaire was mailed to all 142 patients who underwent cosmetic breast augmentation at Viborg Private Hospital from 2004 to 2009.

Intraneuronal signaling pathways of metallothionein.

Metallothionein (MT) belongs to a family of metal-binding cysteine-rich proteins comprising several structurally related proteins implicated in tissue protection and regeneration after injuries and functioning as antiapoptotic antioxidants in neurological disorders. This has been demonstrated in animals receiving MT treatment and in mice with endogenous MT overexpression or null mutation during various experimental models of neuropathology, and also in patients with Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Exogenously applied MT increases neurite outgrowth and neuronal survival in rat cerebellar, hippocampal, dopaminergic, and cortical neurons in vitro.