Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Incorporating Early Exercise Therapy in Hand Surgery:Bag-type Negative Pressure Wound Therapy

In the postoperative treatment of hand surgery, it is important to start exercise therapy as early as possible. In conventional negative pressure wound therapy, the fingers are immobilized by the film dressing covering the wound and hand, thereby preventing sufficient rehabilitation. Here, we devised a bag-type negative pressure wound therapy that makes it possible to start finger exercises almost immediately, and we applied it to 4 patients:one each with hand burns, symmetrical peripheral gangrene, a crush injury accompanied by extensive skin defects and a fingertip degloving injury. The duration of the bag-type negative pressure wound therapy ranged from three to eight weeks, and good granulation was achieved, so that a skin graft was not required. In addition, particularly in the case of the fingertip degloving injury, good nail regeneration was achieved. Except for the case of symmetrical peripheral gangrene, a good range of joint motion with a percent total active motion (%TAM) of 94.7% or more was achieved. Our therapy was performed by inserting the hand into a sealing bag;sufficient exercise therapy was made possible by expanding the bag during rehabilitation

Mastectomy in Female-to-male Transsexuals

The first operative procedure in sex reassignment surgery (SRS) for female-to-male transsexuals (FTMTS) is mastectomy. This procedure includes the removal of mammary tissue, removal of excess skin, and reduction and proper repositioning of the nipple and areola complex. We have performed mastectomies in over 120 patients since January 2001 and want to describe the operative procedures we have developed. We classified our patients into 3 groups according to the patient's breast volume and the degree of ptosis, and we selected the operative procedure that was suitable for each group. At present all costs for SRS are assumed by the patient in Japan. If the FTMTS patient undergoes the entire series of SRS operations, he has to pay more than 3,000,000 yen. Thus the surgeon should select the proper operative procedure so that the patient can avoid unnecessary additional operations. We describe herein the techniques and the strategy for performing mastectomy in FTMTS.</p

Phalloplasty with an Innervated Island Pedicled Anterolateral Thigh Flap in a Female-to-Male Transsexual

Since 2001, we have been performing phalloplasty with a radial forearm free flap as the flap of first choice in female-to-male transsexuals (FTMTS). In the present case, a 22-year-old FTMTS with a negative Allen test, we achieved good results by performing phalloplasty with an innervated island pedicled anterolateral thigh flap using the "tube within a tube" technique, in which the penis and urethra are constructed with a single flap. While phalloplasty with an island-pedicled or free anterolateral thigh flap has been reported previously, the present case seems to be the first of phalloplasty with an innervated island-pedicled anterolateral thigh flap using the "tube within a tube" technique. As compared to a forearm flap, use of an innervated island-pedicled flap may have the following advantages in phalloplasty:1) no need for a microsurgical technique;2) no scars at noticeable sites;3) small functional loss in the flap donor area;4) no sacrifice of major blood vessels. Thus, this technique seems to be a useful clinical alternative for phallic reconstruction

Thumb Polydactyly with a Floating Ulnar Thumb

Thumb polydactyly is reported to be the most common congenital anomaly of the hand in Japan. The floating type is not particularly rare, accounting for 0.9 to 15% of all cases of thumb polydactyly. However, to the best of our knowledge, there has been only one case of thumb polydactyly with a floating ulnar thumb, reported by Onizuka. Herein, we report a case very similar to that reported by Onizuka. In our case, the vessels feeding the floating ulnar thumb branched from the superficial palmar arterial arch, and X-rays revealed triphalangism. In surgery, we not only reconstructed the morphology of the thumb, but also tried to preserve the sensation in the reconstructed thumb by transposing the digital nerve of the floating ulnar thumb to the radial thumb. In addition to thumb polydactyly, our case also showed hypoplasia of the thenar muscles

For Vol.67, No.5 pp325-331 Phalloplasty with an Innervated Island Pedicled Anterolateral Thigh Flap in a Female-to-Male Transsexual

Since 2001, we have been performing phalloplasty with a radial forearm free flap as the flap of first choice in female-to-male transsexuals (FTMTS). In the present case, a 22-year-old FTMTS with a negative Allen test, we achieved good results by performing phalloplasty with an innervated island pedicled anterolateral thigh flap using the “tube within a tube” technique, in which the penis and urethra are constructed with a single flap. As compared to a forearm flap, use of an innervated islandpedicled flap may have the following advantages in phalloplasty: 1) no need for a microsurgical technique; 2) no scars at noticeable sites; 3) small functional loss in the flap donor area; 4) no sacrifice of major blood vessels. Thus, this technique seems to be a useful clinical alternative for phallic reconstruction

Genital Feminizing Surgery without Vaginoplasty as a Safe, Aesthetic, and Cost-Effective Option for Gender-Affirming Surgery for Transwomen

Gender affirming surgery (GAS) has important impacts for people with gender incongruence (GI), both physically and socially. As the societal acceptance of gender diversity spreads, the number of individuals with GI who wish to be identified as the gender of their choice is increasing. Indeed, many elderly people who have lived a long time with GI now wish to undergo GAS, but face greater surgical risks due to greater burdens of underlying medical conditions. Generally, vaginoplasty is performed for transwomen; however, this surgery is time-consuming and involves heavy bleeding, and thus, should be avoided in elderly people. A less invasive technique is needed. In this article, we describe a new, less invasive genital feminizing surgical technique for transwomen with reports from two clinical cases. We present this novel technique as a safe, aesthetic, and cost-effective option for gender-affirming surgery for transwomen

Phantom erectile penis after sex reassignment surgery

Between January 2001 and December 2007, we performed vaginoplasty as sex reassignment surgery in a total of 14 male-to-female transsexual (MTFTS) patients [1]. Several complications occurred such as partial flap necrosis, rectovaginal fistula formation and hypersensitivity of the neoclitoris. Just after the operation, some patients feel that their penises still exist, but by several weeks postoperatively, this sensation has disappeared. Herein we report a case of MTFTS in whom the sensation of a phantom erectile penis persisted for much longer.</p

Vaginoplasty with a Pudendal-Thigh Flap in Intersexuals

We treated 2 different types of intersexual patients who underwent a vaginoplasty with the pudendal-thigh flap. One was a female with testicular feminization syndrome for whom we reconstructed the total vagina with a pudendal-thigh flap, and the other was a female with an adrenogenital syndrome for whom we enlarged the introitus of the vagina with the same approach. There were no complications such as a flap necrosis. In addition, there was no stricture of the neo-vagina and no urinary problem.</p

Vaginoplasty with an M-Shaped Perineo- Scrotal Flap in a Male-to-female Transsexual

To date, many techniques have been reported for vaginoplasty in male-to-female trans-sexual (MTFTS) patients, such as the use of a rectum transfer, a penile-scrotal flap and a reversed penile flap. However, none of these procedures is without its disadvantages. We developed a newly kind of flap for vaginoplasty, the M-shaped perineo-scrotal flap (M-shaped flap), using skin from both sides of the scrotum, shorn of hair by preoperative laser treatment. We applied this new type of flap in 7 MTFTS patients between January 2006 and January 2007. None of the flaps developed necrosis, and the patients could engage in sexual activity within 3 months of the operation. The M-shaped flap has numerous advantages: it can be elevated safely while retaining good vascularity, it provides for the construction of a sufficient deep vagina without a skin graft, the size of the flap is not influenced entirely by the length of the penis, and it utilizes skin from both sides of the scrotal area, which is usually excised.</p