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Objective: Severe ballistic injuries to the face create complex, composite defects of 2 facial subunits. These injuries have an extremely high economic impact for the Medicare system. The surgical goal with these patients is to restore basic functions of the face with a rapid morphological improvement. Our hypothesis is as follows: Early restoration of facial segments with a single free multiple island latissimus dorsi flap without primary bone reconstruction can significantly reduce hospitalization time and allow earlier psychiatric therapy with good morphological results. Surgical method: (1) Large debridement, bony stabilization with external fixation, and tracheotomy. (2) Definitive early reconstruction of soft tissue with composite free latissimus dorsi-scapular musculocutaneous flap. (3) Several refinements will optimize the results. Study design: Retrospective case series of lower- and middle-face composite facial close-range high-energy gunshot wound patients were evaluated. Age, gender, mechanism of injury, anatomic subsites involved, surgical procedures, flaps utilized, complications, functional outcomes, time of tracheotomy closure, hospitalization duration, and beginning of psychiatric treatment were analyzed. Results: Twelve defects were gunshot wounds, 12 free latissimus dorsi flaps, and no flap losses. Patients received psychiatric treatment after 22 days (7-29); the tracheotomy was removed in 10 patients with normal alimentation in all cases. Mean hospitalization duration was 21 days. Conclusions: Free tissue transfer techniques allow early reconstruction of the soft tissue framework of the face with a single multiple-island flap. Rapid restitution of facial compartments at a soft tissue level can dramatically reduce duration of hospitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Without any proof, a governmental agency has decreed that Corticotulle® was not enough efficient to be reimbursed by National Health Security. Dealing with treatment of basal cell carcinoma, another governmental agency has published recommendations which even do not follow basic rules of logic. This paper points out that economical and political methods are not scientific or medical ones. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The scalp is a useful and reliable donor site for the paediatric burn population that can be harvested several times with minimal morbidity. However, the scalp cannot be used as skin graft donor site with impunity. Scalp alopecia and chronic folliculitis can be observed among the complications. In these cases, the reconstruction phase offers different surgical procedures such as primary closure, staged excision or tissue expansion. We report the case of a patient (29-years-old), treated 20 years ago for second-degree burns covering up to 20% total body surface area (TBSA) by using thin split-thickness skin grafts of his scalp. As a teenager, he developed multiple episodes of folliculitis at the donor site of the scalp and then of recurrent abscesses, resistant to all existing medical treatments. Surgical treatment consisted in the skin excision of his scalp donor site which was immediately covered by a thin split-thickness skin graft. Four months after surgery, the patient was satisfied with the functional and aesthetic result., (Copyright © 2010 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a non-infectious purulent ulcerative disease triggered mainly by chronic inflammatory bowel disease, monoclonal gammapathy, polyarthritis and haematological malignancies; exceptionally, it can be triggered by surgery alone. When PG is associated with fever, it can mimic infectious cellulitis. When it is located on the breast, unnecessary and deleterious surgical debridement may be performed. We present two cases of PG of the breast. The first is a postoperative PG and the second was associated with acute myeloid leukaemia - both led to unnecessary surgery. Several elements may have helped to make the diagnosis: nipples little affected by PG, symmetrical lesions on both breasts, other similar lesions elsewhere on the body, resistance to wide spectrum antibiotherapy, complete blood count abnormalities and negativity of bacterial culture. We propose an index to help the surgeon in his decision to realise a surgical debridement or to postpone it and consider the diagnosis of PG., (Copyright © 2010 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Even if a digital replantation is not possible, we present a series of nine cases of fingertip amputations treated with clinical efficacy by using a composite graft from the amputated finger part., Patients and Method: All of our eight patients (four children and four adults) were traumatically amputated. The level of amputation passed by the bunch of P3 and carried partially or completely the ungula. The reposition was always performed under local anaesthesia. Our evaluation related on the survival of the composite grafts, the functional and the aesthetic result., Results: The composite grafts were revascularised in eight amputations out of nine, with a satisfactory remote result on the function as well as aesthetic level., Conclusion: After a short recall of the alternative surgical methods of the treatment of the fingertip amputations, we will insist on the simplicity and the reliability of the repositioning of a composite graft, recommended for us from the start and depending on the traumatic level. In the event of a failure, surgeons still have the possibility of realising the other alternative surgical methods., (2009. Published by Elsevier SAS.)

Background. For the burn surgeon, the treatment of necrotizing soft tissue infections is one of the most demanding surgical emergencies, requiring "radical excisions" of the infected tissue and reconstruction. During the infection period, the excised sites are treated with application of gauzes soaked in saline solution. When the septic period is over, the excision sites are usually covered by sterile paraffin gauze dressing. Our aim was to evaluate a new calcium polyuronate dressing enriched with zinc and manganese ions (test group) versus the reference therapeutic combination (control group) from the septic period to the grafting of skin. Materials and methods. A multicentre, prospective, controlled, randomized clinical trial was conducted from November 2003 to July 2005. The primary endpoint was the waiting period for carrying out the skin graft and the percentage of grafted patients at 28 days after the last excision. The secondary endpoints were blood loss, exudates amounts, and pain during dressing changes. Results. Twenty-five patients were included, 14 with the new dressing and 11 with the reference therapeutic combination. The average waiting period for skin graft was 18 days in the test group versus 27.1 days in the control group (p = 0.128). All the patients in the test group received their grafts within 28 days after the last excision, compared with 60% (p = 0.043) in the control group. Bleeding during dressing change was statistically lower in the test group: 45.5% of the patients did not bleed compared with 0% in the control group (p = 0.045). Treatments were well tolerated. Conclusion. The properties of this new calcium polyuronate enriched with zinc and manganese ions seem to accelerate granulation tissue development, allowing skin grafting earlier in favourable conditions with less bleeding and less pain during dressing renewal.