Objective To investigate the effectiveness of perforator propeller flap of lower limb in the treatment of foot and ankle defect in children. Methods The clinical data of 28 children with foot and ankle defect treated with perforator propeller flap of lower limb between January 2018 and January 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 18 boys and 10 girls with an average age of 7.3 years (range, 6-14 years). There were 8 cases of traffic accident injury and 20 cases of chronic infection wound. The disease duration was 2-4 months, with an average of 2.8 months. After thorough debridement, the residual wound size ranged from 5 cm×4 cm to 9 cm×5 cm. Repairing was performed after 7-28 days of the infection in control. According to the location, size, and shape of the wound, the perforating vessels were located by ultrasonic Doppler, and the perforator propeller flap (area ranged from 6 cm×5 cm to 11 cm×6 cm) was designed and harvested to repair the wound. Flap transfer combined with free split-thickness skin graft covered the wound in 2 cases. The donor site was sutured directly (22 cases) or repaired with skin graft (6 cases). Results Twenty-six flaps survived, of which 20 cases were in primary healing, and 6 cases had epidermal necrosis at the end of small paddle, which healed after dressing change. Necrosis occurred in 2 cases due to venous crisis which healed after anterolateral femoral flap free transplantation. Primary wound healing was achieved in donor site. All 28 children were followed up 6-24 months (mean, 10.5 months). The texture, shape, and motor function of the lower limb was satisfactory. At last follow-up, the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Association (AOFAS) score was 89.8±8.0, which was significantly different from the preoperative score (79.6±10.4) (t=?11.205, P<0.001); 20 cases were excellent, 6 cases were good, and 2 cases were poor, and the excellent and good rate was 92.8%. ConclusionThe perforator propeller flap of lower limb in children has its own characteristics. It is a reliable method to repair the foot and ankle defect in children.
【Abstract】 Objective To observe the effectiveness of limited operations and Ilizarov techniques for correction of congenital clubfoot (CCF) in adolescents, and to explore the new methods and new ideas for functional reconstruction of CCF. Methods Between September 2003 and July 2010, 25 adolescent patients (40 feet) with CCF were treated. Of the 25 patients, 14 were male (20 feet) and 11 were female (20 feet) with an age range from 12 to 25 years (mean, 15.7 years). The left feet were involved in 4 cases, the right feet in 6 cases, and both feet in 15 cases. According to Qin’s clubfoot deformity scale, 9 feet were rated as degree I, 17 feet as degree II, and 14 feet as degree III. In these cases, 9 feet were accompanied by internal rotation deformities of crus and 1 case by subluxation of right hip joint. After soft tissue release and osteotomy, 9 feet (degree I) were fixed by composite external fixation instruments, 31 feet by Ilizarov external fixation instruments. The deformity was corrected from 5 to 7 days after operation with distraction of 0.5-1.0 mm/d, then distraction stopped when the ankle was corrected at a hyperextension of 5 to 10° and light valgus. The affected limb might undergo weight bearing walking with external fixation at corrected position for 4 to 6 weeks. If one had both feet deformity, staged operation should be performed with a surgery interval of 3 to 6 months (mean, 4 months). Results The fixation time was 6-12 weeks (mean, 8 weeks) in 9 feet fixed by composite external fixation instruments, and it was 6-17 weeks (mean, 13 weeks) in 31 feet fixed by Ilizarov external fixation. All 25 patients were followed up 8 months to 6 years with an average of 37 months. During distraction process, slight pin track infection occurred in 6 cases (6 feet), which were cured after expectant management. One patient had recurrence of the deformity at 2 years postoperatively, who obtained satisfactory correction after Ilizarov external fixation for 4 weeks. The satisfactory correction and foot function were achieved in the other feet with walking on full weight-bearing. According to International Clubfoot Study Group (ICFSG) score, the results were excellent in 28 feet, good in 10 feet, and fair in 2 feet, with an excellent and good rate of 95% at last follow-up. Conclusion Combined limited operation with Ilizarov technique for correcting adolescent CCF is accord with biology principle and minimally invasive surgical principle, so it is a safe，minimally invasive, and effective method. It also can broaden the operative indications and correct degree III talipes equinovarus which is unattainable by traditional orthopedic surgery.
Objective To investigate the changes of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF- β1) and type Ⅱ of TGF-β-receptor (TβRⅡ) expressions in wound tissue after the treatment of diabetic foot with vaccum sealing drainage (VSD), and to analyze the mechanism of accelerating wound healing. Methods Between May 2012 and May 2016, 80 patients with diabetic foot were randomly divided into 2 groups, 40 cases in each group. After the same basic treatment, the wounds of VSD group and control group were treated with VSD and external dressing, respectively. There was no significant difference in gender, age, disease duration, body mass, foot ulcer area, and Wagner grade between 2 groups (P>0.05). The time of foundation preparation and hospitalization stay of 2 groups were recorded. The wound tissue was collected before treatment and at 7 days after treatment, and the positive indexes of TGF-β1 and TβRⅡexpressions were measured by immunohistochemical staining. Results Before skin grafting, the patients in VSD group were treated with VSD for 1 to 3 times (mean, 2 times), and the patients in control group were treated with dressing change for 1 to 6 times (mean, 4 times). The time of foundation preparation and hospitalization stay in VSD group were significantly shorter than those in control group (t=–13.546, P=0.036; t=–12.831, P=0.041). The skin grafts of both groups survived smoothly and the wound healed well. Before treatment, immunohistochemical staining results showed that the positive indexes of TGF-β1 and TβRⅡ expressions in VSD group were 5.3±2.4 and 14.0±2.6, while those in control group were 4.4±2.3 and 14.7±3.1, respectively. There was no significant difference between 2 groups (t=1.137, P=0.263; t=1.231, P=0.409). At 7 days after treatment, the positive indexes of TGF-β1 and TβRⅡ expressions in VSD group were 34.3±2.9 and 41.7±3.7, respectively, and those in control group were 5.8±2.0 and 18.1±2.5. There were significant differences between 2 groups (t=–35.615, P=0.003; t=23.725, P=0.002). Conclusion VSD can increase the expressions of TGF-β1 and TβRⅡ in diabetic ulcer tissue, promote granulation tissue growth, and accelerate wound healing.
Objective To investigate the effects of autologous platelet-rich gel (APG) combined with intelligent trauma negative-pressure comprehensive therapeutic instrument on patients with refractory diabetic foot ulcer (DFU). Methods A total of 80 patients with refractory DFU treated in the hospital from January 2015 to January 2017 were divided into the trial group (n=40) and the control group (n=40) by the random number table method. The patients in the two groups were given routine treatment, and on the basis, the patients in the control group were treated with the intelligent trauma negative-pressure comprehensive therapeutic instrument while the ones in the trial group were treated with APG combined with intelligent trauma negative-pressure therapeutic instrument alternately. All patients were observed for 12 weeks. The cure rates, healing time and changes of wound volumes in the two groups before treatment and at 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after treatment were recorded. Results The total effective rate of treatment in the trial group was higher than that in the control group (87.5% vs. 67.5%, P<0.05). The wound volumes in the two groups at 4, 8 and 12 weeks after treatment were smaller than those before treatment and at 2 weeks after treatment (P<0.05). The wound volumes in the trial group at 4, 8 and 12 weeks after treatment were significantly smaller than those in the control group (P<0.05). The healing times of Wagner Ⅱ and Ⅲ DFU in the trial group were significantly shorter than those in the control group [(24.71±4.29)vs. (33.84±6.09) days, P<0.05; (33.04±5.97)vs. (45.29±7.05) days, P<0.05]. Conclusion Alternate treatment with APG combined with intelligent trauma negative-pressure comprehensive therapeutic instrument for refractory DFU can promote wound healing, shorten wound healing time, and improve the clinical efficacy.
ObjectTo systematically review the efficacy and safety of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) for children with severe hand, foot and mouth disease in China. MethodDatabases including CNKI, CBM, WanFang Data, PubMed and The Cochrane Library (Issue 2, 2015) were searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about IVIG combined with conventional therapy versus conventional therapy alone for severe hand, foot and mouth disease from inception to March 2015. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.3 and Stata 9.0 software. ResultA total of 23 RCTs involving 2271 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, compared with the conventional therapy group, the IVIG group had higher total effective rate (RR=1.18, 95%CI 1.11 to 1.26, P<0.00001), shorter fever relieving time (MD=-1.47, 95%CI -1.80 to -1.15, P<0.00001), shorter rash regression time (MD=-1.61, 95%CI -2.51 to -0.71, P=0.0005), shorter remission time of nervous symptoms (MD=-2.14, 95%CI -3.02 to -1.25, P<0.00001), shorter mouth ulcer regression time (MD=-1.36, 95%CI -2.27 to -0.4, P=0.004), and shorter average length of hospital stay (MD=-2.46, 95%CI-3.29 to -1.63, P<0.00001). ConclusionCompared with conventional therapy alone, IVIG combined with conventional therapy can improve the effect for severe hand, foot and mouth disease. Due to the limited quality of the include studies, more high quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion.
Objective To explore the clinical effect of the lower rotating point super sural neurocutaneous vascular flap on the repair of the softtissue defects in the ankle and foot. Methods From May 2001 to February 2006, 24 patients with the soft tissue defects in the ankle and foot were treated with the lower rotating point super sural neurocutaneous vascular flaps. Among the patients, 15 had an injury in a traffic accident, 6 were wringedand rolled by a machine, 1 was frostbited in both feet, 2 were burned, 25 had an exposure of the bone and joint. The disease course varied from 3 days to 22 months; 19 patients began their treatment 3-7 days after the injury and 5 patients were treated by an elective operation. The soft tissue defects ranged in area from 22 cm × 12 cm to 28 cm × 12 cm. The flaps ranged in size from 24 cm × 14cm to 30 cm × 14 cm, with a range up to the lower region of the popliteal fossa. The rotating point of the flap could be taken in the region 1-5 cm above thelateral malleolar. The donor site was covered by an intermediate thickness skingraft. Results All the 25 flaps in 24 patients survived with asatisfactory appearance and a good function. The distal skin necrosis occurred in 1 flap, but healing occurred after debridement and intermediate thickness skin grafting. The follow-up for 3 months to 5 years revealed that the patients had a normal gait, the flaps had a good sense and a resistance to wearing, and no ulcer occurred. The two point discrimination of the flap was 5-10 mm. Conclusion The lower rotating point super sural neurocutaneous vascular flap has a good skin quality, a high survival rate, and a large donor skin area. The grafting is easy, without any sacrifice of the major blood vessel; therefore, it is a good donor flap in repairing a large soft tissue defect in the ankle and foot.
ObjectiveTo explore the relationship of the level of inflammation and nutritional status with the occurrence and prognosis of refractory diabetic foot.MethodsA total of 70 patients with refractory diabetic foot between August 2015 and August 2017 were randomly selected as the observation group. Another 70 patients with diabetes mellitus (without foot ulcer) who visited the hospital in the same period were set as the control group. The observation group was subgrouped into the non-amputation group and the amputation group according to the follow-up endpoint events, and into the grade Ⅲ, Ⅳ, and Ⅴ groups according to Wagner classification method. The blood levels of inflammatory markers and nutritional markers between groups were compared.ResultsIn the observation group, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2), fibrinogen (FIB), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-18, lipoprotein phospholipase A2 (LP-PLA2), C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were significantly higher than those in the control group, and albumin (ALB), prealbumin (PA), and transferrin (TRF) levels were significantly lower than those in the control group, with statistically significant differences (P<0.01). The blood levels of FGF2, FIB, IL-6, IL-18, LP-PLA2, and CRP in the amputation group were significantly higher than those in the non-amputation group, and the levels of TRF, ALB, and PA were significantly lower than those in the non-amputation group (P<0.01). There were statistically significant differences in the levels of FGF2, FIB, IL-6, IL-18, LP-PLA2, CRP, TRF, ALB, and PA in patients with diabetic foot with different Wagner grades (P<0.05). The result of multiple logistic regression analysis showed that IL-6 [odds ratio (OR)=1.487, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.023, 2.120), P<0.001], IL-18 [OR=1.274, 95%CI (1.052, 1.665), P<0.001], LP-PLA2 [OR=1.478, 95%CI (1.126, 1.789), P<0.001], and CRP [OR=2.085, 95%CI (1.574, 2.782), P<0.001] were independent risk factors for the occurrence of refractory diabetic foot, and TRF [OR=0.645, 95%CI (0.002, 0.898), P<0.001], ALB [OR=0.838, 95%CI (0.429, 0.923), P<0.001], and PA [OR=0.478, 95%CI (0.201, 0.984), P<0.001] were independent protective factors for the occurrence of refractory diabetic foot.ConclusionIn the clinical treatment of diabetic foot, we should pay attention to the monitoring of the level of inflammatory factors and nutritional status, and it is necessary to timely carry out anti-inflammatory treatment and appropriate nutritional support treatment.
Objective To summarize the clinical characteristics of foot and ankle deformities combined with knee and lower limb deformities and evaluate the advantages, clinical outcomes, and considerations of QIN Sihe’s surgical strategy for treating such complex deformities. Methods Between January 2022 and December 2024, 32 patients with foot and ankle deformities combined with knee and lower limb deformities were enrolled. The cohort included 23 males and 9 females, aged 10-67 years (mean, 41.1 years). The main etiologies included post-polio sequelae (20 cases) and congenital limb deformities (3 cases). Deformities were categorized as follows: equinovarus foot (12 cases), equinus foot (2 cases), equinovalgus foot (3 cases), equinus foot with swan-neck deformity (2 cases), calcaneus foot (5 cases), foot valgus (2 cases), knee flexion deformity (14 cases), genu recurvatum (4 cases), genu varum (3 cases), genu valgum (3 cases), lower limb shortening (3 cases), and lower limb external rotation (6 cases). QIN Sihe’s surgical strategies included osteotomies, tendon releases, and tendon transfers for deformity correction, followed by external fixation for residual deformity adjustment and stabilization. Outcomes were assessed using QIN Sihe’s Postoperative Evaluation Criteria for Lower Limb (Foot and Ankle) Deformity Correction and Functional Reconstruction. Results All patients were followed up 8-32 months (mean, 16.5 months). Complications included pin tract infection (1 case, 1 site), ankle pain (2 cases), delayed healing at the proximal tibial osteotomy site (1 case), and anterior talar dislocation (1 case). At last follow-up, insufficient correction of foot deformity was observed in 1 case; both knee and lower limb deformities were corrected, with only mild recurrence of knee flexion deformity in 1 case. The foot/ankle and knee joint function improved. Based on QIN Sihe’s Postoperative Evaluation Criteria for Lower Limb (Foot and Ankle) Deformity Correction and Functional Reconstruction, outcomes were rated as excellent in 30 cases and good in 2 cases, with an excellent-good rate of 100%. Conclusion Foot and ankle deformities combined with knee and lower limb deformities are complex, QIN Sihe’s surgical strategy can achieve satisfactory clinical outcomes for simultaneous correction.
The paper introduces a training system for foot ulcer patients based on three axis accelerometer, which uses three axis accelerometer and Apple mobile phone platform to guide foot ulcer patients to carry out a variety of lower limb muscle tissues training. The acceleration values of three directions for the foot training is obtained by analog-to-digital conversion and transmitted to the Apple mobile phone via its Bluetooth low energy. The Apple mobile phone accomplishes acceleration data preprocessing, numerical filtering and adaptive dual-threshold processing by our developed application program, so as to achieve the purpose of foot gesture recognition. The experimental result shows that the design can effectively present the training situation and effect of patients, encourage patients to adhere to the training, and provide some reference data for doctors and patients.
ObjectiveTo explore the causes and management of the complications in diabetic foot treated with tibial transverse transport (TTT). MethodsBetween September 2015 and September 2019, 196 patients with diabetic foot were treated with TTT. There were 109 males and 87 females, with an average age of 67.6 years (range, 45-86 years). According to Wagner’s classification, there were 124 cases of grade 3, 62 cases of grade 4, and 10 cases of grade 5; the course of disease was 1-12 months, with an average of 2.6 months. All patients underwent the minimally invasive tibial osteotomy. The osteotomy site was the middle and lower tibia in 62 cases and the middle and upper tibia in 134 cases. The area of osteotomy was 20 cm2 in 83 cases and 7.5 cm2 in 113 cases. The osteotomy block was moved back and forth once in 92 cases and twice in 104 cases. The complications were recorded, including secondary fracture at tibial osteotomy, skin necrosis in osteotomy area, and pin tract infection. ResultsAmong 196 patients, 41 cases (20.9%) had complications. Nine cases (4.6%) had secondary fracture at tibial osteotomy, among which 6 cases (9.6%) of middle and lower segment osteotomies and 3 cases (2.2%) of middle and upper segment osteotomies. The incidence between the patients with different osteotomy sites was significant (χ2=5.354, P=0.021). The area of osteotomy was 20 cm2 in 5 cases (6.0%) and 7.5 cm2 in 4 cases (3.5%). There was no significant difference in the incidence between patients with different areas (χ2=0.457, P=0.499). Skin necrosis occurred in the osteotomy area in 12 cases (6.1%), all of which were moved back and forth once. There was a significant difference in the incidence between patients who were treated with transport once and twice (P=0.001). There were 18 cases (9.1%) with pin tract infection, including 12 cases (6.1%) with mild infection and 6 cases (3.0%) with severe infection. There was no significant difference in the incidence between the patients with mild and severe infections (P=0.107).ConclusionTTT is an effective method to treat diabetic foot, but there are complications such as secondary fracture at tibial osteotomy, skin necrosis in osteotomy area, and pin tract infection during transport. Preoperative evaluation of indication, standardization of osteotomy mode, size and position of osteotomy block, establishment of individualized removal plan, and strengthening of pin track nursing after operation can effectively reduce complications.