Necrotising descending mediastinitis may rarely originate from Ludwig's angina, which is an infection of the submandibular space. The use of the bilateral pectoralis major muscle flap for the treatment of sternal wound dehiscence is common, but reports of the unilateral application of this flap are scarce. This study aims to report the use of the unilateral pectoralis major muscle flap for the treatment of sternotomy dehiscence in a patient with mediastinitis due to Ludwig's angina. A 21-year-old male patient underwent an exploratory cervicotomy and median sternotomy for drainage of a submandibular infection that extended to the anterior, retropharyngeal and mediastinal cervical spaces. The patient had dehiscence of the sternal wound, and the unilateral pectoralis major muscle flap was used for reconstruction of the defect. This flap was able to completely cover the area of dehiscence of the sternotomy, and the patient presented a good postoperative evolution, without complications. The reconstruction technique using the unilateral pectoralis major muscle flap was considered a good option for the treatment of sternotomy dehiscence. It is an adjuvant method in the treatment of infections such as mediastinitis and osteomyelitis of the sternum secondary to Ludwig's angina, allowing a stable coverage of the sternum.
Leprosy is a chronic disease with clinical presentations according to the immunologic spectrum. Lepromatous form is the most advanced, with the highest transmissibility and risk of causing disabilities. Lucio’s phenomenon is a rare manifestation among lepromatous patients with a rapid and severe evolution and high mortality. It is difficult to differentiate from ulcerative/necrotic erythema nodosum leprosum and has no consensus on how it should be treated. This article is a qualitative review of the literature after the introduction of multidrug therapy, aiming to bring consensus related to the clinical, laboratory and histopathological diagnostic criteria of the disease and its management.
Numerous suture techniques and covering flaps have been described to minimize complications related to sutures in otoplasty. The split postauricular fascial flap is one of such techniques, and it has been used to pad otoplasty suture. The aim of this study was to evaluate complications related to nonabsorbable cartilage sutures in otoplasty, using a variation of the split postauricular fascial flap. In this retrospective case series, we analyzed otoplasty patients in whom simplified split postauricular fascial flap was utilized. A postauricular skin ellipse was de-epithelialized (preserving dermis) and a longitudinally split in half. Flaps were dissected, and they were positioned on the cartilage to promote additional soft tissue coverage to the sutures. The lateral flap covered conchoscaphal sutures while the medial flap covered the conchomastoid sutures. Both the flaps were not sutured to cartilage. Early and late postoperative complications were evaluated. A total of 142 patients were included. Twenty-four (16.9%) patients developed late complications: 13 (9.1%) patients had palpable and visible sutures, nine (6.3%) had suture extrusion and two (1.4%) had hypertrophic scars. In this case series, the simplified split postauricular flap did not prevent or reduce late complications related to suture extrusion in otoplasty. It is possible that suturing the entire length of the flaps may play a role in our results. So, anchoring the flap and possibly tightening it a little may be an important technical step to prevent extrusion of sutures whenever the postauricular flap is used.
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