Objective To investigate the clinical effects of large flow-through venous flap for salvaging the limb on the verge of amputation complicated with arterial defect.Methods Between March 2012 and January 2015,large flow-through venous flap was used in 10 patients with upper limb on the verge of amputation to reconstruct artery defect and large-area skin and soft tissue defect,including 6 males and 4 females with a mean age of 27.9 years (range,18 to 41 years).Injury was caused by machine crush in 4 patients,twisting belt pulley in 4,and traffic accident in 2.The dimension of skin defect ranged from 6.5 cm× 10.0 cm to 10.5 cm × 18.0 cm (mean,9.0 cm × 12.0 cm).Vascular defect length ranged from 6.0 to 16.0 cm (mean,12.3 cm).Time from injury to operation was 1.5-5.5 h (mean,3.5 h).After operation,flap survival,appearance,texture and sensation were recorded.Upper limb function was evaluated using the standard set up by hand surgery branch of Chinese Medical Association.Results The flap varied in size from 8.0 cm×12.0 cm-12.0 cm ×20.0 cm (mean,10.0 cm × 13.5 cm).One patient was amputated due to severe postoperative infection,and 9 patients were successfully operated.The flap showed small-area necrosis on the distal end in 2 patients,which was cured after dressing change,while survived completely in 7 patients.The donor wounds healed in one stage.After 12-27 months of follow-up (mean,13.7 months),the thickness,texture and appearance of the flap were close to the surrounding normal tissues and the skin protective sensation was restored.The functional results were excellent in 6 patients,good in 2 and poor in 1,with the excellent and good rate of 89％.Conclusion Large flow-through venous flap can reconstruct upper-limb vascular defect while repairing large-area wound,and has advantages of easy operation,less damage to the donor site and good appearance.

Objective:To investigate the clinical efficacy of a new 3D printed guide plate in the minimally invasive treatment of fresh closed Achilles tendon rupture.Methods:From January 2019 to January 2020, 14 fresh closed Achilles tendon ruptures were treated by minimally invasive surgery at Department of Foot and Ankle Surgery, Xuzhou Renci Hospital. There were 13 males and one female, with an average age of 39.1 years (from 18 to 63 years). The rupture of the Achilles tendon body, 3 cm in length on average, was located 2 to 6 cm above the attachment of the calcaneal tuberosity. The ruptured Achilles tendon was repaired by suture with the aid of the new 3D printed guide plate. After operation, in cooperation of the Rehabilitation Department, we performed rehabilitation exercise under the guidance of the concept of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS). The length of incision, operation time, intraoperative blood loss, ankle function at the last follow-up and follow-up complications were recorded.Results:In this cohort, incision length averaged 2.5 cm (from 2.0 to 3.5 cm), operation time 45 min (from 30 to 60 min), and intraoperative blood loss 15 mL (from 10 to 20 mL). The 14 patients were followed up for 13 to 16 months (average, 14 months) after operation. In one patient, the epidermis at the incision edge became black and necrotic, which was healed after dressing change. Follow-ups observed no such complications as suture rejection, sural nerve injury, or Achilles tendon re-rupture. The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot scores at the last follow-up averaged 98 points (from 93 to 99 points), yielding 13 excellent cases and one good case; according to the Arner-Lindholm evaluation, the efficacy was excellent in 12 cases, good in one and poor in one.Conclusion:The minimally invasive treatment of fresh closed Achilles tendon rupture with our new 3D printed guide plate has exhibited advantages of minimally invasive incision, limited complications, simple manipulation, good functional recovery of the ankle joint and strong reproducibility of surgical operations.

Objective:To summarise the experience in use of sural neurouascular flap in repair of the soft tissue defects of foot and ankle, and explore the methods in promoting the survival and appearance of the flap.Methods:Data of 10 patients who underwent sural neurocutaneous flap surgery for repairing soft tissue defects in the foot and ankle in the Department of Foot and Ankle of Xuzhou Renci Hospital from October 2019 to June 2020 were retrospectively analysed. Among the 10 patients, 8 were males and 2 were females, and the age ranged from 18 to 54 years old, with an average age of 42.5 years old; Causes of injury: 8 patients injured by traffic accident and 2 by incision necrosis after calcaneal fracture operation. The areas of soft tissue defect were 4.0 cm×6.0 cm-16.0 cm×10.0 cm. Sural neurouascular flap was used for the defect repairs. Method of optimisation: ①The small saphenous vein in the flap was separated and retained in the limb to optimise the venous circulation. ②Freed peroneal perforator vessels that entered the pedicle, and made the point where the vessels entering the pedicle as the rotation point. The pedicle contained the sural neurovascular bundle, the main trunk of the small saphenous vein and the fascia tissue, with a width about 2.0 cm. It not only increased the blood supply of the flaps, but also a good appearance of the pedicle. ③ The torsion of the pedicle was covered by an arc-shaped flap and transferred through an open channel to prevent compression. ④The donor site was covered with relay flap. According to the location of the donor site, a proximal peroneal artery perforator flap or medial and lateral sural artery perforator flap was selected. ⑤Sural nerve was anastomosed with the peripheral sensory nerve in some cases. The survival of the flap, Maryland Foot Function Score and British Medical Research Council (BMRC) sensory function evaluation were investigated in the follow-up to evaluate the functional recovery of the flap and limb.Results:All the 10 patients received the follow-up for 6 to 12 months, with an average of 8.5 months. The donor and recipient flaps survived completely with good appearance in lower limb, good soft texture, good elasticity and wear resistance. The sensation of the flap with nerve anastomosis in 3 cases was evaluated according to BMRC, and they achieved sensation recovery up to level of S 3 or above. The patients had great satisfactions. At the last follow-up, the curative efficacy was evaluated according to the Maryland scoring system. It ranged from 85 to 98 points, with an average of 91.6 point, 8 patients in excellent and 2 in good. Conclusion:Sural neurouascular flap can achieve a sufficient blood supply, a reasonable venous circulation and a high survival rate. The donor site was covered with relay flap to obtain a good appearance, and the anastomosed sensory nerve offered a good sensation. The function of foot and ankle recovered well, and the clinical effect was satisfactory.

Objective To investigate the clinical effects of a large flow-through venous flap.Methods Between January 2012 and January 2015,this flap was used in 9 patients with upper limb injury to reconstruct artery defect and large skin and soft tissue defect.The donor sites were covered with free skin grafts.The skin and soft tissue defects size ranged from 7.0 cm × 10.0 cm to 9.5 cm × 18.0 cm (average 9.2 cm× 12.0 cm).Results The flaps size ranged from 9.0 cm × 12.0 cm-11.5 cm × 20.0 cm (average 10.3 cm × 13.5 cm).Except 2 cases of small area necrosis occurred in the distal end of the flap,which healed after dressing change;the other 7 flaps survived completely.The donor wounds healed primarily.Postoperative patients were followed up for 12-26 months (mean 14.5 months).Flap appearance,texture and thickness were similar to the surrounding normal tissue.According to the sensory function evaluation standard formulated by the British Medical Research Council in 1954,the result of skin flap sensory evaluation was assessed as S2 in two cases,S3 in four cases,S3 in three cases,with excellent and good rate as 77.8％.According to the assessment standard for upper limb function issued by Chinese Medical Association of hand surgery,the limb function were assessed as excellent in 6 cases,good in 2 cases,poor in 1 case,with the excellent and good rate as 88.9％.Conclusions The large flowthrough venous flap has the advantages of simple operation,minimal donor site morbidity and satisfactory appearance.It is a feasible method to repair the wound at upper limb with artery defect.

Objective To investigate the clinical effects of a large flow-through venous flap.Methods Between January 2012 and January 2015,this flap was used in 9 patients with upper limb injury to reconstruct artery defect and large skin and soft tissue defect.The donor sites were covered with free skin grafts.The skin and soft tissue defects size ranged from 7.0 cm × 10.0 cm to 9.5 cm × 18.0 cm (average 9.2 cm× 12.0 cm).Results The flaps size ranged from 9.0 cm × 12.0 cm-11.5 cm × 20.0 cm (average 10.3 cm × 13.5 cm).Except 2 cases of small area necrosis occurred in the distal end of the flap,which healed after dressing change;the other 7 flaps survived completely.The donor wounds healed primarily.Postoperative patients were followed up for 12-26 months (mean 14.5 months).Flap appearance,texture and thickness were similar to the surrounding normal tissue.According to the sensory function evaluation standard formulated by the British Medical Research Council in 1954,the result of skin flap sensory evaluation was assessed as S2 in two cases,S3 in four cases,S3 in three cases,with excellent and good rate as 77.8％.According to the assessment standard for upper limb function issued by Chinese Medical Association of hand surgery,the limb function were assessed as excellent in 6 cases,good in 2 cases,poor in 1 case,with the excellent and good rate as 88.9％.Conclusions The large flowthrough venous flap has the advantages of simple operation,minimal donor site morbidity and satisfactory appearance.It is a feasible method to repair the wound at upper limb with artery defect.

Objective:To investigate the prognostic value of the combined preoperative albumin-globulin score (AGS) and skeletal muscle index (SMI), referred to as the CAS classification, in predicting postoperative outcomes in patients with pancreatic cancer.Methods:The clinical data from 265 patients who underwent surgical treatment and were pathologically confirmed to have pancreatic cancer at the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University between January 2012 and December 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were randomly divided into a training group ( n=184) and a validation group ( n=81) in a 7∶3 ratio. Patients' age, gender, body mass index (BMI), smoking history, alcohol consumption history, previous history of metabolic diseases, AGS, SMI, and CAS classifications within 7 days before surgery, preoperative upper abdominal CT imaging features, presence of vascular and neural invasion, and lymph node metastasis were recorded. Patients with AGS grade 0 were classified into the low AGS group ( n=48), while those with AGS grades 1 and 2 were classified into the high AGS group ( n=136). The optimal cutoff value for SMI was determined using X-tile software: male patients with SMI>42.6 cm 2/m 2 or female patients with SMI>37.8 cm 2/m 2 were categorized into the high SMI group ( n=125), while those below these thresholds were categorized into the low SMI group ( n=59). Patients with AGS grade 0 and SMI>42.6 cm 2/m 2 for males or >37.8 cm 2/m 2 for females were classified into the CAS grade 1 group (n=32). Patients with AGS grades 1 or 2 and SMI ≤42.6 cm 2/m 2 for males or ≤37.8 cm 2/m 2 for females were classified into the CAS grade 3 group ( n=43). The remaining patients were classified into the CAS grade 2 group ( n=109). Clinical characteristics were compared across these groups. Cumulative survival rates were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and survival curves were plotted to analyze the relationship between AGS, SMI, and CAS classifications and overall survival after pancreatic cancer surgery. Differences among groups were assessed using the Log-Rank test. Receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) were plotted, and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated to evaluate the predictive efficacy of AGS, SMI, and CAS on postoperative survival. Results:Compared to the high AGS group, the low AGS group exhibited higher SMI values [(46.17±9.63) cm 2/m 2vs (44.11±7.43) cm 2/m 2], and a lower incidence of lymph node metastasis (16 vs 66, 33.3% vs 48.5%). The mortality rate in the low AGS group was 50.0%(24/48), significantly lower than the 70.6% (96/136) observed in the high AGS group, with a median overall survival of 22.08 months (95% CI 16.87-29.62) longer than 13.1 months (95% CI 8.84-18.82) in high AGS group. Compared to the low SMI group, the high SMI group had a lower prevalence of metabolic diseases (26.4% vs 44.1%). The mortality rate in the low SMI group was 78.0% (46/59), higher than the 58.4% (73/125) in the high SMI group, with a median overall survival of 12.97 months (95% CI 9.37-18.20) obviously shorter than 16.20 months (95% CI 10.7-24.12) in high SMI group. Lymph node metastasis rate for CAS grade 1, 2, and 3 was 34.4% ( n=11), 44.0% ( n=48), and 62.8% ( n=27), respectively, with corresponding mortality rate of 34.3% (11/32), 67.9% (74/109), and 79.1% (34/43), and median overall survival time of 25.55 months (95% CI 19.49-30.07), 14.10 months (95% CI 10.22-19.14), and 12.5 months (95% CI 8.53-18.00), respectively. All the differences were statistically significant (all P value <0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival analyses demonstrated that patients in the low AGS group had significantly longer overall survival than those in the high AGS group in both the training and validation cohorts. Similarly, patients in the high SMI group had longer overall survival compared to those in the low SMI group. Notably, patients in CAS grade 1 exhibited the longest overall survival, whereas those in CAS grade 3 had the shortest. ROC curve analysis revealed that the AUC for CAS classification was superior in the training cohort (0.649) compared to AGS (0.588) and SMI (0.593), and in the validation cohort (0.644) compared to AGS (0.587) and SMI (0.577). Conclusions:CAS classification could effectively predict postoperative prognosis in pancreatic cancer patients, with higher CAS grades correlating with poorer outcomes.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy of TiRobot navigation combined with ankle arthroscopy in the reduction and internal fixation of Hawkins type Ⅱ talus neck fracture.Methods:From January 2019 to September 2020, a total of 13 patients with Hawkins type Ⅱ talus neck fracture were admitted to Department of Foot and Ankle Surgery, Xuzhou Renci Hospital. They were 8 males and 5 females, with a mean age of 35.8 years (from 22 to 61 years). All fractures were reduced and fixated using TiRobot navigation combined with ankle arthroscopy. Time for fracture reduction assisted by intraoperative arthroscopy, time for internal fixation assisted by TiRobotic navigation, fracture union time and complications were recorded. The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot score was used at the last follow-up to evaluate the functional outcomes.Results:All the operations were finished within 2 hour. The primary screw placement succeeded in all. The time for fracture reduction assisted by intraoperative arthroscopy averaged 52.8 min (from 43 to 66 min) and the time for internal fixation assisted by TiRobotic navigation 43.6 min (from 33 to 55 min). All the patients were followed up for an average 13.3 months(from 12 to 15 monhs). They obtained bony union within 3 months. One patient developed traumatic subtalar arthritis with mild pain and was treated conservatively. None of the patients had complications like incision infection or talus necrosis. The average AOFAS ankle-hindfoot score was 91.0 points (from 83 to 94 points) at the last follow-up.Conclusion:In the reduction and internal fixation of Hawkins type Ⅱ talus neck fracture, TiRobot navigation combined with ankle arthroscopy shows advantages of minimal invasion, accurate reduction and screw placement, and limited complications, leading to fine short-term functional outcomes.