The early experience of free flap reconstruction in a regional plastic surgery unit was reviewed. Forty-seven free flap surgical procedures were performed for 46 patients during a 2-year period from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 1996 in a regional plastic surgery centre that specialises in head and neck, and breast reconstruction. Twenty-six free transverse rectus abdominus myocutaneous flaps w...

[Purpose] The purpose of this study is to compare the rectus abdominis and multifidus muscle activity and rectus abdominis/multifidus ratio ratios during various leg-raising exercises. [Subject and Methods] This study was conducted on 10 healthy males. Leg-raising exercises were performed in four different positions. [Results] The activity of the rectus abdominis was greatest for raising the le...

We have compared neuromuscular block in the rectus abdominis and the hand muscles in 11 adult patients. Atracurium 0.5 mg kg-1 was administered by single bolus and anaesthesia maintained with isoflurane and nitrous oxide in oxygen. Train-of-four (TOF) stimulation was applied to the 10th intercostal space in the anterior axillary line and to the ulnar nerve at the wrist. Electromyographic (EMG) ...

OBJECTIVE This article serves to review latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap as an option for breast reconstruction postmastectomy. Since the introduction of the latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap in the late 1970s, its use has always been as a secondary technique, particularly after the development of the transverse rectus abdominus myocutaneous flap in the 1980s. METHODS A literature review o...

PURPOSE Although the rectus abdominis and its sheath are well known structures, their development in the human fetus is poorly understood. MATERIALS AND METHODS We examined rectus abdominis and sheath development in semiserial horizontal sections of 18 fetuses at 5-9 weeks of gestation. RESULTS Rectus muscle differentiation was found to commence above the umbilicus at 6 weeks and extend inf...

The pattern of formation of the human rectus sheath exhibits variations, it is not clear if these variations are population specific. This study aimed at describing the pattern of formation of the rectus sheath in a select Kenyan population. Formation of the rectus sheath was analyzed in eighty subjects (47 male, 33 female) during autopsies and cadaveric dissection. The anterior wall of the rec...

BACKGROUND Patients with end-stage renal failure due to huge autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease usually have an umbilical hernia and rectus abdominis diastasis, which are very troublesome. Pretransplant bilateral nephrectomy techniques does not manage the umbilical hernia and rectus abdominis diastasis. We report our experience in performing bilateral nephrectomy and repairing the rec...

BACKGROUND: Previously, we found patient satisfaction with breast reconstruction at postoperative year 1 significantly higher in the autogenous tissue compared with the expander/implant population. But breast reconstructive procedures have different “aging” processes, and the point at which outcomes stabilize is unclear. So we evaluated patient satisfaction with breast reconstruction at postope...

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to analyze muscle activation during hip flexion in the supine position to examine the activation characteristics of the rectus abdominis and rectus femoris. [Subjects] The subjects of this study were 20 healthy adults (10 males and 10 females). [Methods] Muscle activities of the rectus abdominis and rectus femoris while raising the leg from 0°-60° were me...