scholarly journals Long-Term Outcome after Successful Lower Extremity Free Flap Salvage

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (04) ◽  
pp. 263-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir Bigdeli ◽  
Emre Gazyakan ◽  
Volker Schmidt ◽  
Christoph Bauer ◽  
Günter Germann ◽  
...  

Background Vascular occlusion after free flap surgery has become a rare complication but still poses a major challenge. It necessitates urgent re-exploration, but the logistic challenge to provide sufficient resources for the emergency intervention remains. The aim of this study was to analyze the long-term outcome after successful lower extremity free flap salvage. Methods A single-center retrospective study including long-term follow-up was approved by the local ethics committee. From January 1999 to December 2010, a total of 581 free flaps were performed for lower extremity reconstruction. Eighty-six flaps required emergency re-exploration, of which 65 could be salvaged. Fifteen salvaged flaps were excluded from the study because of secondary amputation. Of 50 patients, 29 (6 females and 23 males) were eligible for follow-up. The mean follow-up time was 54.5 ± 32.9 months. Health-related quality of life (Short Form 36 [SF-36]) and scar quality (Vancouver Scar Scale [VSS]) were analyzed. Results The overall flap survival rate was 94.7% and the total loss rate was 5.3%. The re-exploration rate was 14.8% (86 of 581 flaps). The salvage rate was 75.6% (65 of 86 flaps). Twenty-one free flaps were totally lost (24.4%). Partial flap loss occurred in 12 cases (14.0%); 67.5% of the vascular complications occurred during the first 24 hours, 20.9% between 24 and 72 hours, and 11.6% after more than 72 hours. The mean time from the first signs of impaired flap perfusion to re-exploration was 1.3 ± 0.4 hours, and from free tissue transfer to re-exploration was 16.2 ± 1.9 hours. The overall scar appearance was good with an average VSS score of 4.0 points. The average SF-36 physical component score was 54.4 ± 5.4 and the mental component score was 63.1 ± 10.7. Conclusion Careful monitoring and the opportunity for urgent re-exploration are the key to success for free flaps salvage. Following these principles, an acceptable long-term outcome can be achieved.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Hamid Reza Niknejad ◽  
Melissa Frederickx ◽  
Emiel Salaets ◽  
Jurgen Lemiere ◽  
Lieven Lagae ◽  
...  

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Tectal plate gliomas (TPG) constitute a distinct entity of benign tumors of the brain stem which show an indolent clinical course. Adequate treatment of secondary hydrocephalus is undoubtedly a major factor in the outcome. However, little is known about to what degree the tumor itself determines the long-term outcome of these patients. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> We retrospectively analyzed and compared the clinical and radiological data of 16 pediatric TPG patients with data of 12 pediatric idiopathic aqueductal stenosis (IAS) patients treated in our center from 1988 to 2018. For both groups, we assessed the long-term outcome in terms of hydrocephalus management, and for the TPG group, we assessed tumor growth during follow-up. In a separate prospective part of the study, we performed a neuropsychological evaluation in a subgroup of patients using a standardized testing battery, covering intelligence, learning, memory, executive functions, and an inventory on depression. <b><i>Results:</i></b> In the TPG group, the mean clinical and radiological follow-up was 84 and 70 months, respectively. On average, the maximum diameter of the tumor increased by 11% (<i>p</i> = 0.031) and the estimated tumor volume with 35% (<i>p</i> = 0.026) on radiological follow-up. The fronto-occipital horn ratio (FOHR) decreased by 23% on average after treatment. In the IAS group, the mean clinical and radiological follow-up was 117 and 85 months, respectively. In this group, the FOHR decreased by 21% on average. Neurocognitive testing revealed significant higher scores in the TPG group on global intelligence (TPG = 109, IAS = 85.5, <i>U</i> = 3, <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.01, <i>z</i> = −2.71), performance (TPG= 100, IAS = 85, <i>U</i> = 7, <i>p</i> = 0.03, <i>z</i> = −2.2), and verbal intelligence (TPG = 122, IAS = 91.5, <i>U</i> = 2, <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.00, <i>z</i> = −2.87) as well as working memory (TPG = 109.5, IAS = 77, <i>U</i> = 0.5, <i>p</i> = 0.01, <i>z</i> = −2.46). <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Our results suggest that the long-term outcome in TPG patients is acceptable and that cognition is substantially better preserved than in patients with IAS. This puts the idea of a significant contribution of the tumoral mass to disease outcome on the long term in question. Adequate and prompt management of hydrocephalus is the most important factor in long-term cognitive outcome.


2010 ◽  
Vol 112 (4) ◽  
pp. 784-789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew C. Zacest ◽  
Stephen T. Magill ◽  
Valerie C. Anderson ◽  
Kim J. Burchiel

Object Ilioinguinal neuralgia is one cause of chronic groin pain following inguinal hernia repair, and it affects ~ 10% of patients. Selective ilioinguinal neurectomy is one proposed treatment option for carefully selected patients. The goal of this study was to determine the long-term outcome of patients who underwent selective ilioinguinal neurectomy for chronic post-hernia pain. Methods The authors retrospectively reviewed the clinical assessment, surgical treatment, and long-term outcome in 26 patients with ilioinguinal neuralgia who underwent selective ilioinguinal neurectomy performed by the senior author (K.J.B.) at Oregon Health & Science University between 1998 and 2008. Data were collected from patient charts and a follow-up telephone questionnaire. Results Twenty-six patients (14 men and 12 women) had a clinical diagnosis of ilioinguinal neuralgia based on a history of radiating neuropathic groin, medial thigh, and genitalia pain. One patient had bilateral disease (therefore there were 27 surgical cases). A selective nerve block was performed in 21 (81%) of 26 patients and was positive in 20 (77%) of the 26. In all but 2 patients, pain onset followed abdominal surgery (for hernia repair in 18 patients), and was immediate in 16 (67%) of 24 patients. The mean patient age was 48.7 years, and the mean duration of pain prior to neurosurgical consultation was 3.9 years. Surgery was performed after induction of local or general anesthesia in 17 and 10 cases, respectively. The ilioinguinal nerve was identified in 25 cases, and the genitofemoral nerve in 2, either entrapped in mesh, scar, or with obvious neuroma (22 of 27 cases). The identified nerve was doubly ligated, cut, and buried in muscle at its most proximal point. At the 2-week follow-up evaluations, 14 (74%) of 19 patients noted definite pain improvement. Nineteen (73%) of the 26 patients were contacted by telephone and agreed to participate in completing long-term follow-up questionnaires. The mean follow-up duration was 34.78 months. Return of pain was reported by 13 (68%) of 19 patients. Using a verbal numerical rating scale (0–10), pain was completely relieved in 27.8%, better in 38.9%, no better in 16.7%, and worse in 16.7% of patients. Conclusions Ilioinguinal neurectomy is an effective and appropriate treatment for selected patients with iatrogenic ilioinguinal neuralgia following abdominal surgery. Although a high proportion of patients reported some long-term recurrence of pain, complete or partial pain relief was achieved in 66.7% of the patients observed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 78 (05) ◽  
pp. 446-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noriyuki Iesato ◽  
Yoshinori Terashima ◽  
Katsumasa Tanimoto ◽  
Tsuneo Takebayashi ◽  
Toshihiko Yamashita ◽  
...  

Background Clinical results and recurrence rate after microendoscopic diskectomy (MED) with long-term follow-up is still unclear, in spite of its relatively long history. Materials and Methods A total of 112 who underwent MED participated in this study. Operative time, blood loss, serum C-reactive protein (CRP), creatine kinase (CK), and visual analog scale (VAS) were evaluated as indexes of surgical invasiveness. The 36-Item Short Form Survey Instrument (SF-36), Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score, patient satisfaction, and recurrence were also evaluated with a follow-up of at least 5 years. Results The mean operative time was 86.7 minutes, and the mean blood loss was 35.7 mL. The mean CRP on postoperative day 3 and CK on the first postoperative day was 0.72 mg/dL and 224.6 IU/L, respectively, and VAS to assess surgical site pain on the first postoperative day was 24.9 mm on average. The improvement rate in the JOA score was 68.7%. The physical component summary of SF-36 in norm-based scoring was improved from 23.4 to 48.6. Overall, 90.8% of patients evaluated their response to the surgery as extremely satisfied or satisfied. The recurrence rate was 10.5%, and reoperation was performed in 7.9% of patients. Conclusions MED is a technique that offers both reduced invasiveness and good long-term clinical results.


1997 ◽  
Vol 12 (S5) ◽  
pp. 353s-355s ◽  
Author(s):  
LH Lindström ◽  
T Lundberg

SummaryControlled clinical trials have shown that the atypical neuroleptic clozapine is highly effective in schizophrenic patients who are unresponsive to conventional neuroleptic agents. The long-term outcome of clozapine treatment was studied in 122 patients who were treated between 1974 and 1991. The mean duration of treatment was 5.2 years. At follow-up, 74 patients (61%) were still receiving clozapine. Only 11 patients discontinued treatment because of adverse events and eight because of poor compliance. Clinical improvement was seen in 87% of patients; 40% had resumed employment after 2 years' treatment. About one-third of patients who received clozapine for 5–10 years continued to improve during this time; this was probably because of a continuing process of socialisation. Thus, clozapine offers important advantages in schizophrenic patients resistant to conventional neuroleptics in terms of long-term efficacy and lack of extrapyramidal side-effects.


2001 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 415-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rover Krips ◽  
C. Niek van Dijk ◽  
Tamas Halasi ◽  
Hannu Lehtonen ◽  
Constantino Corradini ◽  
...  

The long-term clinical outcome after anatomical reconstruction and tenodesis in the treatment of chronic anterolateral ankle instability was assessed in a retrospective multicentre study. The first group (AR) consisted of 25 patients (mean age at operation 22 yrs ± 5.7) who underwent anatomical reconstruction and the second group (TE) of 29 patients (mean age 23 yrs ± 6.6) who underwent tenodesis. For both groups, the mean follow-up period was 12.3 yrs (AR ± 2.5 yrs, TE ± 2.7 yrs). At physical examination, there were significantly more patients in the TE group (n = 18) with a positive anterior drawer sign as compared with the AR group (n = 7) (p = 0.02). Medially located degenerative changes in the ankle joint as seen on standard radiographs were seen more often in the TE group (n = 7) than in the AR group (n = 1) (p = 0.03). The mean talar tilt, 4.7° in the AR group vs 6.9° in the TE group, (p = 0.02) and anterior talar translation, 2.9 mm in the AR group vs 4.3 mm in the TE group, (p = 0.04) were significantly higher in the TE group at radiographic stress examination. According to the rating system developed by Good et al. (1975), significantly fewer patients in the TE group (n = 8) had an excellent result as compared with the AR group (n = 15) (p = 0.03) and more patients in the TE group (n = 9) had a fair or poor result (p = 0.04) as compared with the AR group (n = 2). We conclude that a tenodesis procedure does not restore the normal anatomy of the lateral ankle ligaments. When compared with anatomical reconstruction, a tenodesis leads to inferior results in terms of functional and mechanical stability, as well as overall satisfaction at long-term follow-up.


2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ngoc B. Ha ◽  
Joideep Phadnis ◽  
Simon B. M. MacLean ◽  
Gregory I. Bain

The purpose of this study was to assess the long-term outcomes of radioscapholunate fusion, with and without distal pole of scaphoid excision and excision of the triquetrum. These compromised three operative groups. Seventeen patients were identified with a minimum of 10 years follow-up, with a mean of 15 years (range 10–19). Fifteen of the 17 patients were satisfied with their outcome. Two were converted to total wrist fusion. The mean outcomes scores were; pain visual analogue scale score 2.1/10, Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand 29 and Modified Mayo Wrist score 60. Patients with excision of the triquetrum had a mean radial–ulnar arc increase of 10° compared with the other two groups, but this was not statistically significant. The mean space for the scaphocapitate joint was 1.7 mm and lunocapitate joint was 1.3 mm at latest follow-up. Close adherence to the indications and surgical technique provided a sustainable good clinical outcome. Patients who obtained a good result at 2 years were likely to achieve a good long-term outcome. Level of evidence: IV


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 636-645 ◽  
Author(s):  
Päivi Koroknay-Pál ◽  
Hanna Lehto ◽  
Mika Niemelä ◽  
Riku Kivisaari ◽  
Juha Hernesniemi

Object Population-based data on pediatric patients with aneurysms are limited. The aim of this study is to clarify the characteristics and long-term outcomes of pediatric patients with aneurysms. Methods All pediatric patients (≤ 18 years old) with aneurysms among the 8996 aneurysm patients treated at the Department of Neurosurgery in Helsinki from 1937 to 2009 were followed from admission to the end of 2010. Results There were 114 pediatric patients with 130 total aneurysms during the study period. The mean patient age was 14.5 years (range 3 months to 18 years). The male:female ratio was 3:2. Eighty-nine patients (78%) presented with subarachnoid hemorrhage. The majority of the aneurysms (116 [89%]) were in the anterior circulation, and the most common location was the internal carotid artery bifurcation (36 [28%]). The average aneurysm diameter was 11 mm (range 2–55 mm) with 16 giant aneurysms (12%). Eighty aneurysms (62%) were treated microsurgically, and 37 (28%) were treated conservatively due to poor medical and neurological status of the patient or due to technical reasons during the early years of the patient series. No connective tissue disorders common to pediatric aneurysm patients were diagnosed in this series, with the exception of 1 patient with tuberous sclerosis complex. The mean follow-up duration was 24.8 years (range 0–55.8 years). At the end of follow-up, 71 patients (62%) had a good outcome, 3 (3%) were dependent, and 40 (35%) had died. Twenty-seven deaths (68%) were assessed to be aneurysm-related. Factors correlating with a favorable long-term outcome were good neurological condition of the patient on admission, aneurysm location in the anterior circulation, complete aneurysm closure, and absence of vasospasm. Six patients developed symptomatic de novo aneurysms after a median of 25 years (range 11–37 years). Fourteen patients (12%) had a family history of aneurysms. There was no increased incidence for cardiovascular diseases in long-term follow-up. Conclusions Most aneurysms were ruptured and of medium size. Internal carotid artery bifurcation was the most frequent location of the aneurysms. There was a male predominance of pediatric patients with aneurysms. Most patients experienced good recovery, with 91% of the long-term survivors living at home independently without assistance and meaningfully employed. Altogether, almost a third of these patients finished high school and one-fifth had a college or university degree. Pediatric patients had a tendency to develop de novo aneurysms.


1978 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 392-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry Guitar ◽  
Colin Bass

Previous research has indicated that attitude change generally follows behavior change in operant stuttering therapy programs. This study sought to examine the longterm therapy outcome of stutterers whose communication attitudes were not substantially normalized after fluency establishment and generalization. Posttransfer attitude scores of 20 stutterers were used to classify them into one of two groups: those whose communication attitudes had been modified to show less abnormality than the mean level for normal speakers, and those whose attitudes had not. Follow-up interviews with the 20 stutterers one year later indicated that those whose posttransfer attitudes were not substantially normalized stuttered significantly more. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.


2008 ◽  
Vol 68 (5) ◽  
pp. 642-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Cushnaghan ◽  
J Bennett ◽  
I Reading ◽  
P Croft ◽  
P Byng ◽  
...  

Objectives:To assess long-term outcome and predictors of prognosis following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) for osteoarthritis.Methods:We followed-up 325 patients from 3 English health districts approximately 6 years after TKA, along with 363 controls selected from the general population. Baseline data, collected by interview and examination, included age, sex, comorbidity, body mass index (BMI), functional status and preoperative radiographic severity of osteoarthritis. Functional status at follow-up was assessed by postal questionnaire. Predictors of change in physical function were analysed by linear regression.Results:Between baseline and follow-up, patients reported an improvement of 6 points in median Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) physical function score, whereas in controls there was a deterioration of 14 points (p<0.001). Median SF-36 vitality score declined by 10 points in patients and 5 points in controls (p = 0.005), while their median SF-36 mental health scores improved by 12 and 13 points, respectively (p = 0.2). The improvement in physical function was smaller in patients who were obese than in patients who were non-obese, but compared favourably with a substantial decline in the physical function of obese controls. Better baseline physical function and older age predicted worse changes in physical function in patients and controls. Improvement in physical function tended to be greater in patients with more severe radiological disease of the knee, and was less in those who reported pain at other joint sites at baseline.Conclusions:Improvements in physical function following TKA for osteoarthritis are sustained beyond 5 years. The benefits are apparent in patients who are obese as well as non-obese, and there seems no justification for withholding TKA from obese patients solely on the grounds of their body mass index.


2021 ◽  
Vol 62 (10) ◽  
pp. 1348-1354
Author(s):  
Sang Wook Jin ◽  
Hyun Chul Jeong ◽  
Hee Jung Cho ◽  
Woo Chan Park

Purpose: To investigate the long-term efficacy and stability of the use of various reinforcement material grafts on scleromalacia.Methods: This retrospective study was conducted on scleromalacia patients who underwent surgical treatment with reinforcement material grafts from January 2012 to March 2019. The choice of amniotic membrane, Tenon’s capsule, acellular sclera, or collagen matrix implanted in the area of scleromalacia was made based on disease severity. Amniotic membrane transplantation with a pedicular rotatory inferior conjunctival flap was performed to prevent having a bare sclera. The patient demographics, cause of scleromalacia, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), recurrence rate, postoperative complications, and restoration appearance were evaluated.Results: A total of 58 patients (58 eyes) were enrolled in this study. The mean age of patients was 65.7 ± 9.6 years, and 32 patients (55.2%) were women. The mean follow-up period was 28.1 ± 17.3 months. The most common cause of scleromalacia was pterygium operation (53 patients, 91.4%). The reinforcement materials were mainly amniotic membrane (31 patients, 53.4%) and acellular sclera (15 patients, 25.7%). There was no recurrence of scleromalacia or structural instability during the follow-up period. The preoperative and postoperative mean BCVA values were 0.24 ± 0.24 and 0.21 ± 0.23 logMAR, respectively. Wound dehiscence (three patients, 5.2%) and conjunctival cyst (three patients, 5.2%) occurred with the highest frequency.Conclusions: The use of the appropriate reinforcement material graft according to the severity of scleromalacia and amniotic membrane transplantation using a pedicular rotatory inferior conjunctival flap to prevent a bare sclera can be effective for treating scleromalacia, without long-term recurrence.


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