Background In Australia, the COVID‐19 pandemic has caused severe social disruptions, including restrictions to the movement of people. Healthcare centres around the world have seen changes in the nature of injuries acquired during the COVID‐19 pandemic; we therefore hypothesize that social isolation measures have changed the pattern of plastic and reconstructive surgery presentations. Methods A prospective cohort study was designed comparing patient presentations during the enforced COVID‐19 lockdown to two previous periods. All emergency referrals requiring operative intervention by the plastic and reconstructive surgery unit of our institution were included. Patient demographics, place and mechanism of injury, drug and alcohol involvement, delays to presentation, length of admission and complication rates were collected. Results Demographics and complication rates were similar across all groups. A 31.8% reduction in total number of emergency cases was seen during the lockdown period. Increase in do‐it‐yourself injuries ( P = 0.001), bicycle injuries ( P = 0.001) and injuries acquired via substance abuse ( P = 0.041) was observed. Head and neck injuries, mostly due to animal bites and falls, were also more prevalent compared to the same period the previous year ( P = 0.007). As expected, over 80% of plastic surgery operations during the COVID‐19 period were due to injuries acquired at home, a significant increase compared to previous periods. Conclusion Despite changes in the pattern of presentations requiring plastic and reconstructive emergency surgery, traumatic injuries continued to occur during the pandemic. Thus, planning will be essential to ensure resource allocation for emergency procedures is sustained as second and third waves of COVID‐19 cases emerge worldwide.
The Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) is characterized by an exaggerated vascular response to cold temperature or emotional stress causing temporary ischemia. It is more prevalent in the digits of the hands and feet, and when occurring in conjunction with a rheumatological condition, it is also termed Raynaud's syndrome, or secondary RP. Healing following a burn requires appropriate tissue perfusion to promote primary restoration of the skin, prevent further burn progression, and to promote skin graft take in wounds requiring autologous split skin grafting. The addition of vascular compromise caused by RP to a burn wound is therefore hypothesized to impair burn wound healing and worsen burn wound progression. The authors describe a 51-year-old female with digital burns on a background of scleroderma and Raynaud's syndrome successfully treated with oral sildenafil therapy and autologous split skin grafting. The case report further highlights the potential role for sildenafil therapy in wound healing and patients requiring autologous skin grafting or local skin flaps. In future cases, we plan to involve rheumatology services early in the course of the injury aiming to improve outcomes.
Breast cancer is the most common non-cutaneous cancer affecting women. Despite this high incidence, few cases of non-disseminated breast cancer metastasizing to the kidneys have been reported. This report documents a 78-year-old female in remission for twelve years following lobular breast cancer treatment who presents with haematuria associated with a right renal pelvis lesion. Histological analysis revealed this lesion was metastatic lobular breast carcinoma. A systematic review yielded 15 documented cases of non-disseminated breast cancer metastasizing to the kidneys. This systematic review represents that most comprehensive review of the clinical presentation, pathology, prognosis and management of this rare presentation.
Introduction: Despite advances in surgical technique for cleft lip, minimal evidence exists for methods of scar management, particularly scar massage. Some parents express concern that lip massage creates pain and distress to their children. This study aims to determine whether scar massage has enough cosmetic advantage to justify its use. Method: We reviewed 33 unilateral complete cleft lip repairs performed at our institution. Information on repair technique, suture material and scar management were recorded. Parent questionnaires and clinical photography were used with a panel of eight trained blinded observers asked to assess photos taken 24 months postoperatively. Scars were graded using a scale of 1 (very poor) to 5 (excellent). Twenty patients were included. Ethics approval was obtained from The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne Research Ethics and Governance office with HREC reference number QA/60562/RCHM-2019. Results: Frequency of scar massage was not associated with a better scar score (p= 0.36). Both the technique of repair and type of suture material used had greater effect on scar grading than massage therapy. Discussion: Problematic scarring following cleft lip surgery is a challenging outcome. This is the first study aiming to explore the effect of scar massage following cleft lip surgery. Conclusion: We found no conclusive evidence to support the use of scar massage in the postoperative care of cleft lip patients. Limitations include the retrospective nature of the study, low patient numbers and heterogeneity of surgical techniques. Nevertheless, there was no correlation seen between the frequency of massage and scar quality. Lip scar massage can cause significant pain to patients and distress to their family, warranting further studies to justify its use.
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