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Biomedical subjects

B Strauch

Publications and source records attributed to B Strauch.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Delayed primary closure using Silastic vessel loops and skin staples: description of the technique and case reports.

The use of Silastic vessel loops and skin staples for closure of surgical wounds, with or without tissue loss, is a relatively simple technique that can be done at the patient's bedside or in an office setting, using local anesthesia. The vessel loops are tightened or additional staples are placed, as required, until the skin edges are approximated. In a variety of wounds, use of Silastic vessel loops eliminates the need for skin grafting or secondary wound closure and minimizes the morbidity associated with these procedures.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Mammography in the evaluation of masses in breasts reconstructed with TRAM flaps.

Patients with transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous (TRAM) flaps may develop physical findings, such as palpable masses, irregularities, and areas of increased tenderness that are suggestive of fat necrosis or recurrent malignancy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate these findings with mammography in an attempt to rule out recurrent malignancy in the autogenously reconstructed breast. Fifteen patients on whom mammography was performed as an aid in the evaluation of suspicious post-TRAM flap findings were reviewed. Common mammographic findings included calcifications believed to demonstrate fat necrosis, benign dermal calcifications, calcified hematoma, and clustered microcalcifications. Areas of increased or decreased density without calcifications were also identified and appeared to be related to surgical changes and fat necrosis. Twenty percent of patients had clustered microcalcifications, and 20% had detectable masses on mammography. One patient had a suspicious mass associated with clustered microcalcifications, leading to a biopsy that revealed fat necrosis. The majority of findings were consistent with normal fat within the TRAM flaps. This study supports mammography as a useful diagnostic tool in patients who have undergone TRAM flap breast reconstruction and who present postoperatively with suspicious physical findings.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1997

Analysis of bone formation after cranial osteotomies with a high-speed drill.

Ten New Zealand white 22-week-old rabbits were divided into two groups of five each. The Midas Rex drill with a C-1 drill bit was used to make a full-thickness sagittal osteotomy 2 cm in length. A B-5 bit and footplate attachment were used to make a 2-cm linear osteotomy parallel to the first. Four drill holes 1 mm in diameter were made over the nasal bones on the ipsilateral side. In Group A animals, half of the skull had no irrigation; the other half of the skull was irrigated with room temperature saline. In Group B animals half of the skull was irrigated with iced saline irrigation; the other half of the skull was irrigated with room temperature irrigation fluid, and the osteotomy sites were filled with bone wax. Specimens were harvested at 8 weeks and evaluated grossly and histologically. The results showed that all the drill holes closed in the nasal bones regardless of the type of irrigation used or whether bone wax was used. Iced saline irrigation and room temperature irrigation had similar positive effects on bone formation in contrast to the no-irrigation group, which had inferior bone formation. Bone wax appeared also to have a detrimental effect on bone formation.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

The ten test.

The authors describe a new test for clinical sensibility, initiated in response to the need of the senior author for a rapid, reliable method to evaluate sensibility. Using this test, the patient develops a ratio between normal light moving touch and diminished moving touch. Subsequent determinations can detect serial changes. The ratios obtained can be compared with a standard scale of sensibility with a high degree of validity and reliability. The interexaminer and intraexaminer results obtained are reliable and repeatable. Statistical evaluations substantiating the validity of the test are presented. Simplicity and depend-ability recommend this test for use in a busy clinical setting.

Humans↗
PubMed1997

1457 years of microsurgical experience.

Microsurgery is a relatively new field of surgery involving various methods and practices that are currently evolving. Our goal was to register the current practices employed by the members of the American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery. A survey was mailed to the 319 members of the society, resulting in a response rate of 33 percent (106 of 319). The data reflect the combined experience of 10,839 free-tissue transfers and 3487 digital and upper and lower extremity replants over a 4-year period between 1990 and 1994. Practices employed, such as pharmacologic adjuvant therapy, monitoring techniques, flap types, and success rates reported by the members of the American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery, were analyzed.

Anticoagulants↗
PubMed1997

A re-evaluation of hypopharyngeal reconstruction: pedicled flaps versus microvascular free flaps.

Reconstruction of hypopharyngeal defects can be accomplished with the use of pedicled myocutaneous flaps or with microvascular free flaps. The authors contrast their results using the trapezoidal paddle pectoralis major myocutaneous flap with the reported results of two published series of free jejunal flaps. The severity of the defects, preprocedure irradiation, and mix of primary and secondary reconstruction were comparable between series. The benefits, complications, and functional results of either technique also seem to be comparable. However, the authors recommend the trapezoidal paddle pectoralis major myocutaneous flap for its ease of performance, rapidity of surgery, and absence of intraperitoneal approach. With the current effort to achieve comparable results with shorter procedures, and with greater conservation of patient and public resources, the pedicled flap should be reconsidered.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Cosmetic Plastic Surgery in Adolescents.

Perceived or real physical defects may be important for an adolescent trying to establish self-image and adjust socially. Port-wine stains, breasts too small or too large, ethnic nose, prominent ears or chin, excess of adipose tissue-all these "defects" can lead to loss of self-esteem and have severe consequences with regard to an adolescent's development. This chapter discusses surgical procedures that can help adolescents change their physical appearance and consequently improve their self-confidence and social integration.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1996

Determining the maximal length of a vein conduit used as an interposition graft for nerve regeneration.

Although autogenous veins have been used as nerve conduits (AVNCs) both experimentally and clinically for short nerve gaps up to 3 cm, investigators have not as yet determined the maximal effective length for functional nerve regeneration. In addition, the role of the distal nerve stump on subsequent nerve growth remains unclear. A rabbit peroneal nerve AVNC model was used to study axonal regeneration through nerve gaps of 1 to 6 cm. After allowing ample time for nerve regeneration, clinical, electophysiologic and neurohistologic studies were performed to evaluate nerve growth and functional muscle reinnervation. Comparisons were made with 6-cm conventional nerve grafts. Excellent growth and function were found with AVNCs up to 3 cm in length, with increasing incapacity for regeneration at lengths greater than 3 cm. The distal nerve stump is believed to play a vital role in nerve regrowth.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Free fibula flap mandible reconstruction for oral obstruction secondary to giant fibrous dysplasia.

Fibrous dysplasia is a disorder of bone that may be associated with endocrinopathies and skin pigmentation. The pathologic, proliferative expansion and distortion of the skeleton is of unknown etiology. Craniofacial involvement that includes the mandible can exhibit gigantic disproportions and dysfunction. Treatment has evolved to include more aggressive strategies of resection and sophisticated reconstructive techniques. The reported case is noteworthy for the unrelenting growth of craniofacial fibrous dysplasia in an adult female with endocrinopathies, progressing to oral obstruction that required urgent treatment utilizing immediate free bone-flap reconstruction. The free fibula flap was employed to restore mandibular continuity after palliative subtotal mandibulectomy. Bony healing to dysplastic tissue occurred in the remaining mandibular segment. This case illustrates that fibrous dysplasia has the capacity for virulent regrowth subsequent to conservative resection. Defects following radical surgery for giant fibrous dysplasia of the mandible can be reconstructed with a microsurgical bone-flap technique.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

The effect of epigastric vessel ligation on the vascular territories of the pig rectus muscle.

In a pig model, unilateral ligation of the inferior epigastric vessels caused an initial decrease in normal vascularity, followed by an increase toward normal vascularity, in the inferior portion of the rectus muscle over 42 days. Ligation appeared to dilate the choke vessels between the superior and inferior arterial territories. The results indicate that by ligation of the inferior epigastric vessels, the vascular territory, which is normally tenuous, can undergo a transposition without vascular compromise.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

The use of pentoxifylline in microvascular surgery.

The authors studied the effect of pentoxifylline (Trental), a hemorrheologic agent that increases erythrocyte flexibility and augments microcirculatory blood flow, on the patency of a known thrombosis model. In Sprague-Dawley rats, a double-blind study was performed, with animals receiving either intraperitoneal injections of pentoxifylline (20 mg/kg/day) or saline in an equivalent volume, 4 weeks prior to surgery and continued for 1 week postoperatively. In all animals, the left femoral artery was used for a 2-mm arterial inversion graft (AIG), and the contralateral femoral artery for a 2-mm crush injury model. In the control group, patency of the AIG was 0 percent (0/19) and that of the crush model 31 percent (6/19). The pentoxifylline-treated group showed an AIG patency of 37 percent (7/19) and a crush model patency of 84 percent (16/19). p values were .004 and .005, respectively. Furthermore, hematoma formation was associated with none of the control sides (0/38) and only with 5 percent (2/38) of the pentoxifylline-treated animals. This study demonstrated statistically significant improvement on microvascular patency in animals treated with pentoxifylline, whether they were in the crush or the arterial inversion graft groups. The clinical ramifications of using a hemorrheologic agent that improves microvascular circulation, without effecting changes in coagulation, are apparent.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Monobloc correction of external nasal deviations.

Nine patients (7 men, 2 women) with external nasal deviation underwent corrective procedures using a monobloc nasal osteotomy technique. The deformities ranged from mild to severe. Eight patients had post-traumatic deviations, whereas 1 had a unilateral cleft nasal deformity. For this monobloc technique, osteotomies were performed at unequal levels to correct the height difference, no periosteal undermining was performed, and septal dissection was undertaken only after monobloc repositioning. There was no need for grafts or microplate fixation. Minimum follow-up was 8 months. All patients had improvement in their external deviation, 1 patient was mildly undercorrected, and only 1 patient (cleft nasal) required a radical submucosal resection.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

[Video technology and the personal computer in the therapy simulator].

PURPOSE: Technical progress in the development of radiation therapy simulators provided valuable addition of electronically stored images and monitor indicators for individual radiation parameters. One can store as well as print these data as a treatment plan. The possibility of supplementing older simulators with these technical options will be reported in the following paper. METHODS: The modification of our simulator installation was done simply. The new equipment needed to expand our simulator facility was almost exclusively derived from the fields of entertainment and home electronics (Visualizer/video camera, video tape recorder, video mixer, additional monitor; personal computer and printer). RESULTS: With these modifications we reached the technical standards of the latest simulator generation. In addition, we succeeded in implementing additional technical options: e.g. image inversion with contrast alignment to diagnostic displays, complete magnetic tape recording of the entire x-ray process with possible repetition, electronic overlapping of the simulator image and the diagnostic image (e.g. NMR; angiograms) to determine the treatment volume, automation in x-ray documentation. CONCLUSION: Increased precision and rational work steps employing readily available equipment will lead to further improvement in the quality of radiotherapy.

Computer Systems↗
PubMed1994

Pharyngeal flap revisions: flap elevation from a scarred posterior pharynx.

Twenty-one consecutive patients who had earlier superiorly based pharyngeal flap surgery and persistent velopharyngeal insufficiency were seen between 1976 and 1991. Patients were divided into two treatment groups, depending on the results of videofluoroscopic and nasopharyngoscopic assessment. The first group consisted of 18 patients who had bilateral port insufficiency and required a complete reconstruction of a new superiorly based pharyngeal flap that was elevated from a scarred posterior pharyngeal wall. After an average follow-up of 6.2 years, 15 patients had normal resonance, 2 patients had improvement but continued hypernasality, and 1 patient was hyponasal. The second group consisted of 3 patients who had "patch" flaps to a unilateral port insufficiency. Postoperatively, all 3 of those patients had normal resonance. Indications for the decision to "redo" or patch flaps are described.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Distraction of the frontal bone outside the cranial plane: a rabbit model.

Distraction of the frontal bone outside the cranial plane using the Ilizarov principle was performed in 17 22-week-old New Zealand white rabbits. Five rabbits had frontal bone osteotomy only and were in the control group; 5 rabbits were placed in the sham control group and had frontal bone osteotomy plus application of a customized headgear appliance; and 7 rabbits were placed in the experimental group, which underwent frontal bone osteotomy application of the headgear and distraction. The frontal bone was elevated 1 mm every other day for a period of 8 weeks, and the animals were then killed. Cephalometry was performed both preoperatively and at the end of the 8-week period. Histological examination of the skulls was also performed. The experimental group showed a significantly elevated frontal bone compared to the sham control group (p < 0.05). Callous bone filled the distracted segment, which united the frontal bone with the cranial plane. Therefore, frontal bone advancement by distraction osteogenesis is possible using this rabbit model.

Animals↗