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Although congenital hand anomalies are among the more common musculoskeletal anomalies worldwide, we do not know its prevalence in our practice.The aim of the study was to determine the pattern of congenital hand anomalies presenting to our tertiary plastic surgery outpatient service in South-Western Nigeria.This is a cross-sectional retrospective analysis of outpatient cases of congenital hand anomalies presenting over a 10-year period. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed using frequencies, Student's t-test and Chi-square as appropriate. The data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0. The statistical significance value was set at P0.05.One hundred and twenty-two cases were identified. The highest number of cases was seen in the year 2012, 23 patients (19.3%). There was a male preponderance of 66 patients (55.1%). Thirty-two patients (26.2%) presented as neonates and 36 (29.5%) as infants. Bilateral anomalies were seen in 67 patients (54.9%). The most common anomaly was failure of differentiation, 88 patients (72.1%) followed by duplication, 26 patients (21.3%). Syndactyly with 43 patients (35.2%) was the most common anomaly under failure of differentiation. No significant associations were found between the type of anomaly and gender or laterality.Syndactyly was the most common congenital hand anomaly in this study. There was a preponderance of bilateral involvement in both syndactyly and polydactyly.

Introduction: plastic surgery for Down syndrome has not been embraced in sub-Saharan Africa. This study sought to determine the attitudes of some parents from sub-Saharan Africa to plastic surgery for their Down syndrome child. Methods: consenting parents completed a questionnaire survey instrument that obtained demographic characteristics and contained a likert scale on attitudes to plastic surgery. Internal consistency of the scale was determined with Chronbach's alpha and Pearsons chi square analysis was used to analyze relationships between demographic variables and attitudes scores. Values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: most (61.9%) of the 42 consenting mothers were above 35 years of age. The most disturbing of the Down syndrome characteristics were the protruding tongue, 18(42.9%), slanting palpebral fissures, 14(33.3%) and the flattened nasal bridge 14(33.3%). Although the mothers had low awareness of plastic surgery, most of them had favourable attitudes towards it. A reliability analysis of the mother's attitudes on the likert scale showed good internal consistency. Chronbachs alpha 0.87. Conclusion: the parents in this study have favourable attitudes towards plastic surgery for Down syndrome. The prominent tongue was the most disturbing feature.

Reverse sural artery fasciocutaneous flap has become a workhorse for the reconstruction of distal leg soft tissue defects. When its use is not feasible, perforator‑based propeller flap offers a better, easier, faster, and cheaper alternative to free flap. We present our experience with two men both aged 34 years who sustained Gustilo 3B injuries from gunshot. The donor area for reversed sural artery flap was involved in the injuries. They had early debridement, external fixation, and wound coverage with perforator‑based propeller flaps. The donor sites were covered with skin graft. All flaps survived. There were minor wound edge ulcers due to the pressure of positioning that did not affect flap survival and the ulcers healed with conservative management. Perforator‑based propeller flap is a versatile armamentarium for reconstruction of soft tissue defects of the distal leg in resource‑constrained settings, especially when the donor area for a reverse flow sural flap artery is involved in the injury.Key words: Flap, perforator flap, propeller flap, reconstruction

Aim Clefts in the craniofacial region are one of the commonest congenital anomalies recorded in literature. The incidence varies globally with racial differences observed. In Nigeria, the evaluation of the absolute incidence of oral clefts is a challenge as births and deaths are not adequately registered. Especially lacking is the relative prevalence of rare craniofacial clefts to the more common cleft lip and palate anomaly. This study aims to document the pattern of distribution of craniofacial clefts, including cleft lip and palate anomaly, rare craniofacial clefts, unusual presentation of some of these anomalies, as well as other abnormalities noted in affected cleft patients seen at our centre. Material and methods Information on age, gender, weight at presentation, type of cleft anomaly, other abnormalities, as well as affected relatives were extracted from the clinic records of the Cleft Clinic of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria, from April 2010 to September 2012. Results One hundred and forty-two cases were seen within the 30-month period, consisting of 58 men and 84 women with a mean age of 43.54 months and a median of 2.0 months. Eighty-eight per cent of the cases were cleft lip and palate anomalies, while 12.0% were craniofacial clefts. Thirteen per cent had other abnormalities, while 3.5% were considered to be unusual cleft anomalies. Conclusion The pattern of distribution of clefts in the craniofacial region in our centre has been documented. Cleft of the primary palate was the commonest while rare craniofacial clefts constituted about one-eighth of all the craniofacial clefts.

This study sought to determine the awareness and attitude of doctors and nurses in a teaching hospital to skin donation and banking, and to identify needs for personnel educational programmes.A cross sectional survey on doctors and nurses was carried out using a 44-item questionnaire that included a Likert scale on attitudes. Predictors of favourable attitudes were determined.Eighty (49.7%) doctors and 81 (50.3%) nurses participated in the study. Many participants, 126 (78.3%), knew that skin could be donated, but only 96 (59.6%) participants were aware of skin banking. The main source of information was during professional training (17.4%). Only 41 (25.5%) participants were willing to donate skin after death. Body disfigurement was the major reason (20.5%) against skin donation. Participants who were doctors, were aware of skin banking, and who were previous blood donors had higher attitudes scores (p0.001, p=0.004, p=0.007 respectively). Being a doctor and having heard of skin banking were predictors of favourable attitudes to skin donation and banking.Knowledge transfer during health professional training on the usefulness of banked skin in patients with major burns may lead to improved attitude of health professionals and acceptance of this modality of burn management.

Children constitute a significant proportion of burn victims in most studies from the developing countries. While there has been a progressive improvement in the outcome from childhood burn in many developed nations, the morbidity and mortality remains high in many low and middle income countries. The aim of our study is to evaluate the demographic characteristics and prognostic indicators of childhood burn in a major referral teaching hospital in a developing country. A review of the records of 638 patients with acute burns managed over a 10-year period from January 2001 to December 2010 at the University College Hospital, Ibadan Nigeria was done. The clinical and epidemiological data were retrieved from computerized data base using the ISBI proforma. Information obtained includes Biodata, Etiology, location, TBSA, presence of Inhalation injury and the treatment outcome. Data of patients aged 16 years and below were analyzed using the SPSS version 16. The main outcome measure was the patient's survival. 289 children representing 45.3% of the total number of burn patients were managed over the period. The M:F ratio was 1.1:1. The median age of the cohort was 4.0 years while the median TBSA was 21.0%. Non-intentional causes were responsible for 89.6% cases. Most of the injuries (88.6%) occurred at home. Eighty-three patients had inhalation injury out of which 57 (68.7%) deaths were recorded. The overall mortality rate in the cohort was 39.5% with an LA50 of burn size of 45%. The TBSA was also found to be a determinant of outcome. Majority of childhood burns are from preventable causes with attendant dismal mortality figures. Effective burn prevention strategies and improved quality of care remain pivotal in reducing childhood burn morbidity and mortality in the developing countries.

Cupping therapy is an ancient alternative medicine practice with origins in the Middle East. It involves mobilization of blood flow to promote healing through either heat or suction. It is rare in Sub-Saharan Africa. The authors present an 80-year-old known diabetic Nigerian female with 2% burns to the left shoulder from cupping therapy for back pain. The methods of cupping therapy and the potential adverse events from a Plastic Surgery perspective are discussed.