Biodegradeable temporising matrix use in a traumatic chest wound

The Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery is responsible for a population of 10 million people in Wales and England. We describe the use of biodegradable temporising matrix (BTM) in a large traumatic chest wound in a 23-year-old woman. BTM is a synthetic dermal substitute and has been utilised to achieve soft tissue coverage in complex wounds. This wound was sustained after the patient fell from a tractor into a large silage rake, resulting in injuries to her chest and limbs. Following meticulous debridement, her resulting full thickness skin defect measured 30 × 30 cm extending from the sternal notch to the upper abdomen, with bone, muscle and breast tissue exposure. The central chest area is complex to reconstruct due to the contours of the breasts and tendency to contracture following skin graft reconstruction. We demonstrate the first reported use of BTM for breast reconstruction, as far as we are aware.

Utilizing patient-specific 3D printed guides for graft reconstruction in thoracoabdominal aortic repair

In thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repair, repairing the visceral and segmental arteries is challenging. Although there is a pre-hand-sewn and multi-branched graft based on the conventional image-based technique, it has shortcomings in precisely positioning and directing the visceral and segmental arteries. Here, we introduce two new reconstruction techniques using patient-specific 3D-printed graft reconstruction guides: (1) model-based technique that presents the projected aortic graft, visualizing the main aortic body and its major branches and (2) guide-based technique in which the branching vessels in the visualization model are replaced by marking points identifiable by tactile sense. We demonstrate the effectiveness by evaluating conventional and new techniques based on accuracy, marking time requirement, reproducibility, and results of survey to surgeons on the perceived efficiency and efficacy. The graft reconstruction guides cover the segmentation, design, fabrication, post-processing, and clinical application of open surgical repair of thoracoabdominal aneurysm, and proved to be efficient for accurately reconstructing customized grafts.

Intraosseous schwannoma of the humerus: a rarity yet warrants consideration

Intraosseous schwannoma is extremely rare that it is not often considered among differential diagnosis for an osteolytic lesion, especially in long bones of the extremities. Amounting to less than 0.2% of all primary bone tumours and less than 200 cases reported so far, with only 3 cases involving the humerus, we hereby report the fourth case. In addition to its rarity, this was the only case of an intraosseous schwannoma involving the humerus bone which presented with a pathological fracture in a 45-year-old woman after sustaining a trivial trauma. Radiological examination revealed a geographic type of osteolytic lesion in distal shaft region of the left humerus. Only a histopathological examination helped in revealing and confirming the diagnosis of an intraosseous schwannoma. Treatment of the tumour with complete excision with bone graft reconstruction and osteosynthesis yields good results with very low risk of recurrence.