Alkūnės kanalo sindromo chirurginio gydymo rezultatai

Background. Cubital tunnel syndrome is the second most commonly diagnosed compressive neuropathy of the upper extremity after carpal tunnel syndrome and the most common neuropathy of the ulnar nerve. Objective. To evaluate the results of surgical treatment of patients with cubital tunnel syndrome by performing an open decompression in situ. Methods. All subjects underwent a standard operation – open surgical opening of the elbow canal (decompression in situ). On the day of surgery, after 3 months, after 6 months, pain (verbal pain scale), hand and arm function (QuickDASH), complications are evaluated. Results. There were 44 patients, 16 (36%) female, 28 (64%) male. In 50% of the patients, electroneuromyography revealed a severe degree of ulnar nerve damage, in the rest – a moderate degree of damage. Hand function for women 3 months after surgery improved by 42.046 points (according to QuickDASH), while in men it was 15.454 points (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, hand function for woman 3 months after surgery improved by 45.833 points, while in men it was 20.000 points (p < 0.05). Statistically significant differences between the groups with a moderate and severe degree of damage were found only when assessing pain according to the VAS scale at 3 months after surgery (mean VAS scores 1.2 and 2.8 respectively). A positive correlation was also observed between age and improvement in hand function between 3–6 months after surgery (p < 0.05). In older people, improvement in hand function is observed after a longer period of time after surgery, and a more pronounced improvement in hand function with a severe degree of damage (comparing function before surgery and 6 months after surgery) is experienced by younger people. Conclusions. In situ decompression of the ulnar nerve is one of the most effective methods of treating ulnar neuropathy. With this method an improvement in the function of the hand and a decrease in pain are observed.Įvadas. Alkūnės kanalo tunelinis sindromas – antra po riešo kanalo sindromo dažniausiai diagnozuojama kompresinė viršutinės galūnės neuropatija ir dažniausiai nustatomas alkūninio nervo neurologinis sutrikimas. Tikslas – įvertinti pacientų, operuotų dėl alkūnės kanalo sindromo, chirurginio gydymo rezultatus, atliekant atvirąją dekompresiją. Metodika. Tiriamiesiems atlikta standartinė operacija – atvirasis chirurginis alkūnės kanalo atvėrimas (dekompresija in situ). Operacijos dieną ir po operacijos praėjus 3 mėn. ir 6 mėn. vertintas skausmas (verbalinė skausmo skalė), plaštakos ir rankos funkcija (QuickDASH), komplikacijos. Rezultatai. Klinikiniame tyrime dalyvavo 44 pacientai, iš jų – 28 (64 %) vyrai ir 16 (36 %) moterų. 50 proc. pacientų elektroneuromiografijos tyrimu nustatytas sunkaus laipsnio alkūninio nervo pažeidimas, likusiems – vidutinio laipsnio pažeidimas. Praėjus 3 mėn. po operacijos, moterims plaštakos funkcija pagerėjo vidutiniškai 42,046 balo (QuickDASH), vyrams – 15,454 balo (p < 0,05). Praėjus 6 mėn. po operacijos, rankos funkcija, palyginti su rezultatu prieš operaciją, moterims pagerėjo vidutiniškai 45,833 balo, vyrams – 20,000 balo (p < 0,05). Statistiškai reikšmingas skirtumas tarp vidutinio ir sunkaus laipsnio pažeidimų grupių nustatytas tik vertinant skausmą, remiantis VAS skale, praėjus 3 mėn. po operacijos (VAS balų vidurkiai – atitinkamai 1,2 ir 2,8). Praėjus 3–6 mėn. po operacijos, rankos funkcijos pagerėjimas teigiamai koreliavo su tiriamųjų amžiumi (p < 0,05). Vyresniems pacientams rankos funkcijos pagerėjimas nustatytas praėjus daugiau laiko po operacijos. Didesnį rankos funkcijos pagerėjimą (lyginant funkciją prieš operaciją ir praėjus 6 mėn. po operacijos), esant sunkiam pažeidimo laipsniui, patiria jaunesni asmenys. Išvados. In situ alkūninio nervo dekompresija – viena iš efektyviausių alkūninio nervo neuropatijos gydymo metodikų. Taikant šį chirurginio gydymo metodą, pagerėja plaštakos funkcija, sumažėja skausmas

The Use of Thermal Imaging in Free Perforator Flap Planning

Background. Preoperative planning and design of microsurgical perforator flaps are the main steps for successful operation. The aim of this study was to determine the concordance between thermographic images obtained with smartphone thermal imaging camera and hand-held Doppler in the anterolateral thigh flap (ALT) model. Methods. A concordance study of diagnostic tests was carried out in Hospital of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kaunas Clinics, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Department during 2020–2022. Patients’ who were scheduled to undergo reconstruction with ALT flap and healthy volunteers were included in the study. Dynamic thermal images were performed with smartphone thermal camera FLIR One PRO in the typical ALT flap territory. The number and distance of hotspots in the thermogram with respect to anterior superior iliac spine were recorded in the study protocol. Later, the examination was repeated with hand-held Doppler and the control of hotspot was performed. Sensitivity, specificity and concordance index calculations were performed. Statistical analysis was performed using IMB SPSS 23.0. Results. A total of 100 ALT flap territories were examined. 266 hotspots were detected with thermal imaging and 275 perforators with hand-held Doppler. In 96.6% of cases, hotspots detected by a thermal camera were confirmed by hand-held Doppler as perforators. The sensitivity and specificity of thermography for the detection of perforators with respect to the hand-held Doppler were 93.5% and 96.9% respectively. The measure of concordance kappa index was 0.095 (p = 0.001). Conclusion. Smartphone thermal imaging have a high concordance with hand-held Doppler in perforator mapping, thus could be considered a useful adjunct to conventional methods