PURPOSE Until now patients with bladder acontractility were destined to lifelong clean intermittent catheterization with all of its inherent risks. Previous experimental studies demonstrated that voluntary voiding can be restored by microneurovascular free transfer of a carefully selected muscle flap. We present the selection criteria, modifications in technique, followup schedule and long-term...

I read the article of Wang et al. [1] entitled “Topical negative pressure improves autograft take by altering nutrient diffusion: A hypothesis” with great interest. Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is generally used in a two-step surgical procedure to treat surgical site infections. At the time the wound is sterile and wound granulation has been initiated, the wound can be secondary surgi...

Muscle flap transposition is one of the surgical treatment options for empyema with alveolarpleural fistula (APF) or bronchopleural fistula (BPF). This surgical procedure is invasive because it is typically performed by standard thoracotomy. We performed video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) debridement, decortication, and obliteration of an empyema cavity using a pedicled latissimus dors...

Ectopia cordis (EC) is characterized by a complete or partial malposition of the heart outside the thorax. Despite the interdisciplinary treatment, the repair of EC is still very difficult and offers new surgical challenges because of its complexity and various combinations with other anomalies. We report the successful outcome after using a pedicled latissimus dorsi flap in reconstructive surg...

Large posterior upper trunk defects can be challenging to reconstruct. Trapezius or latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flaps are principally utilized for reconstruction; however, some defects may not be amenable to this standard approach. Here, we describe a patient with a full-thickness skin and subcutaneous tissue loss of the upper back and inferior cervical region after dermatofibrosarcoma protub...

Objectives. To compare reconstructive techniques, operative times, duration of hospitalization, and need for subsequent flap revisions between reconstructive approaches to lateral skull base defects. Study Design. Case series with chart review. Setting. Tertiary academic referral center. Subjects. Patients (n = 31) undergoing reconstruction of composite lateral skull base defects from 2002 to 2...

A case is described of an anterior chest wall desmoid tumor in a 20-year-old Micronesian male that had been previously incompletely resected one year prior to presentation. A radical chest wall resection was performed with reconstruction accomplished using a gortex patch and latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap. The patient developed a massive local recurrence within eight months following surger...

After oncological tumor resections at the back, large defects can remain that depending on the size and location may represent reconstructive challenges to plastic surgeons. Flap selection includes the entire armamentarium of coverage, including transposition flaps, perforator flaps, pedicled muscle flaps, and free flaps. Most defects can be closed and reconstructed with local or pedicled muscl...

OBJECTIVE To examine the indications for, and the success of, free flap reconstruction in patients with forehead and scalp defects. DESIGN Case series. SETTING Two tertiary referral university teaching hospitals. Patients Twenty-six consecutive patients, aged 31 to 85 years, presenting with 26 scalp defects, 5 forehead defects, and 1 combined defect (size, 70-672 cm(2)). Three patients requ...

The aim of this case report was to describe a successful diabetic limb salvage procedure in the treatment of an infected diabetic foot ulcer through a multidisciplinary team approach and complex surgical reconstruction involving a femoral head bone allograft and musculocutaneous latissimus dorsi free flap. The decision to proceed with aggressive staged efforts at diabetic limb salvage should be...