Background: Postoperative epidural hematomas (EDH) are relatively common occurrences following emergent or elective craniotomies. While a number of strategies have been reported for management of traumatic EDH, there is no consensus among surgeons regarding the most effective treatment of postoperative EDH. Objective: We describe a novel surgical technique for treatment of postoperative EDH tha...

BACKGROUND Although meticulous technique cannot guarantee a superior cosmetic result when repairing skin wounds or excising skin lesions, a well planned and executed repair reduces the risk of unsatisfactory scarring. OBJECTIVE This article discusses sound plastic surgery principles that every doctor operating on the skin can apply. Common suture techniques and simple flap techniques and thei...

Craniosynostosis is a significant disorder affecting 1 in 2500 live births worldwide. Although a large body of work has focused on dural regulation and the contributions of molecular mediators such as fibroblast growth factor, bone morphogenetic protein, and transforming growth factor β, minimal attention has been directed toward osteoclast function in cranial suture biology. Receptor activator...

PURPOSE Our aim was to determine the effect of a surgical technique on biomaterial implant performance, specifically graft retention. METHODS Twelve mini pigs were implanted with cell-free, 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethyl aminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC)/N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) cross-linked recombinant human collagen type III (RHCIII) hydrogels as substitutes for donor corneal allografts using overly...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Pediatric cranial sutures are often evaluated for abnormal diastasis upon presentation to the emergency department after trauma or during a neurologic consultation; however, few normative data for CT measurements exist. This study establishes normal means for the sagittal and coronal suture widths during the first year of life by using CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS The sagi...

BACKGROUND The mechanical properties of 1-2-year-old pediatric cranial bones and sutures and their influential factors were studied to better understand how the pediatric calvarium reacts to loading. MATERIAL AND METHODS Cranial bone and suture specimens were extracted from seven fresh-frozen human infant cadavers (1.5±0.5 years old). Eight specimens were obtained from each subject: two front...

Delayed wound healing and scar formation are among the most frequent complications after surgical interventions. Although biodegradable surgical sutures present an excellent drug delivery opportunity, their primary function is tissue fixation. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) act as trophic mediators and are successful in activating biomaterials. Here biodegradable sutures were filled with adipose-...

Otoplasty is a commonly performed procedure to correct prominent ears. Many different otoplasty techniques have been described but there is no gold standard technique. As well, many different suture materials are used in otoplasty but studies directly comparing different sutures materials are lacking. An otoplasty outcome study with Nylon and Mersilene (2 of the most commonly used sutures in ot...

The sutures of the skulls of vertebrates are generally open early in life and slowly close as maturity is attained. The assumption that all vertebrates follow this pattern of progressive sutural closure has been used to assess maturity in the fossil remains of non-avian dinosaurs. Here, we test this assumption in two members of the Extant Phylogenetic Bracket of the Dinosauria, the emu, Dromaiu...

Growth and patterning of craniofacial sutures are subjected to the effects of mechanical stress. Mechanotransduction processes occurring at the margins of the sutures are not precisely understood. Here, we propose a simple theoretical model based on the orientation of collagen fibres within the suture in response to local stress. We demonstrate that fibre alignment generates an instability lead...