OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of combined platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and arterial supercharging technique on the survival rate and functional restoration of cross-body region skin flaps in rabbits. METHODS: Twelve healthy 6-month-old New Zealand White rabbits were randomly assigned to 4 groups ( n=3): sham group, PRP group, anastomosis group, and combined treatment group. An axial skin flap with an area of 12 cm×6 cm on the inner side of the hind limbs of all animals were prepared, with the saphenous artery as the main blood supply. Following the ligation of both the proximal and distal ends of the saphenous artery across all groups, the sham group received no further intervention, the PRP group was subjected to PRP injection, the anastomosis group underwent in situ end-to-end anastomosis of the distal saphenous artery, and the combined treatment group received both in situ distal saphenous artery anastomosis and PRP administration. Flap survival was evaluated and recorded on postoperative days 1, 3, and 7, with survival rates calculated accordingly. On day 7, flap tissue samples were harvested for HE staining to assess basal tissue morphology. Additionally, immunohistochemical staining was conducted to detect the expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and CD31 in the flap tissues. RESULTS: At postoperative day 1, no significant difference in flap survival rates were observed among the 4 groups ( P>0.05). At day 3, the PRP group showed no significant difference compared to the sham group ( P>0.05); however, both the anastomosis and combined treatment groups exhibited significantly higher survival rates than the sham group ( P<0.05), the combined treatment group further demonstrated superior survival rates compared to both the PRP and anastomosis groups ( P<0.05). At day 7, the combined treatment group maintained significantly higher survival rates than all other groups ( P<0.05), while both the PRP and anastomosis groups exceeded the sham group ( P<0.05). HE staining at day 7 revealed persistent inflammatory cell infiltration, sheet-like erythrocyte deposition, and disordered collagen fibers in the sham group. The PRP group showed nascent microvessel formation and early collagen reorganization, whereas the anastomosis group displayed mature microvasculature with resolved interstitial edema. The combined treatment group exhibited differentiated microvessels with densely packed collagen bundles. Immunohistochemical analysis at day 7 demonstrated significantly larger relative area percentages of α-SMA, VEGF, and CD31 positive cells in the combined treatment group compared to all other groups ( P<0.05). Both the PRP and anastomosis groups also showed significantly higher values than the sham group ( P<0.05). CONCLUSION The combination of PRP and arterial supercharging techniques significantly enhances flap healing, potentially through mechanisms involving augmented angiogenesis and improved blood supply.
Animals ; Rabbits ; Platelet-Rich Plasma ; Surgical Flaps/blood supply* ; Graft Survival ; Anastomosis, Surgical/methods* ; Ischemia/surgery* ; Arteries/surgery* ; Skin/blood supply* ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/metabolism* ; Male ; Skin Transplantation/methods*

Objective:To establish a fluorescent quantitative RT-PCR assay based on N_sgRNA of SARS-CoV-2 and preliminarily apply it on real samples.Methods:Recombinant plasmid, specific primers and probes of N_sgRNA were designed and synthesized based on Wuhan-Hu-1/2019_MN908947 and synthesis mechanism of subgenomic RNA (sgRNA). Using recombinant plasmid as amplification templates, the optimal reaction conditions and reaction system were screened according to the Ct value, fluorescence intensity, and shape of amplification curve and was evaluated for sensitivity, reproducibility, and specificity. Meanwhile, the possibility of practical application of the method was explored by testing 172 clinical samples and 256 municipal wastewater samples. Results:A qRT-PCR assay for N_sgRNA in SARS-CoV-2 was initially established. The detection limit of the assay was 20 copies/mL, and the variation coefficients of in-batch (0.002%~0.767%) and batch to batch repetition (0.016%~0.752%) were less than 1%. Only N_sgRNA recombinant plasmid was detected in the specificity assay. So the method is more highly sensitive, specific and reproducible. The RatiosgRNA/ gRNA of clinical samples HK.3, EG.5.1, JN.1 and their sub-lineages and their corresponding urban sewage samples in epidemic period were significantly different ( P<0.05). There is a strong correlation between the median of RatiosgRNA/ gRNA in clinical samples and sewage samples in the same period (correlation coefficient r=1.000, P=0.010). Conclusions:In this study, a qRT-PCR method for detecting N_sgRNA of SARS-CoV-2 was established and the method has the characteristics of higher sensitivity, stronger specificity and better repeatability, and it can be used to detect SARS-CoV-2 infectivity.

Objective:To establish a fluorescent quantitative RT-PCR assay based on N_sgRNA of SARS-CoV-2 and preliminarily apply it on real samples.Methods:Recombinant plasmid, specific primers and probes of N_sgRNA were designed and synthesized based on Wuhan-Hu-1/2019_MN908947 and synthesis mechanism of subgenomic RNA (sgRNA). Using recombinant plasmid as amplification templates, the optimal reaction conditions and reaction system were screened according to the Ct value, fluorescence intensity, and shape of amplification curve and was evaluated for sensitivity, reproducibility, and specificity. Meanwhile, the possibility of practical application of the method was explored by testing 172 clinical samples and 256 municipal wastewater samples. Results:A qRT-PCR assay for N_sgRNA in SARS-CoV-2 was initially established. The detection limit of the assay was 20 copies/mL, and the variation coefficients of in-batch (0.002%~0.767%) and batch to batch repetition (0.016%~0.752%) were less than 1%. Only N_sgRNA recombinant plasmid was detected in the specificity assay. So the method is more highly sensitive, specific and reproducible. The RatiosgRNA/ gRNA of clinical samples HK.3, EG.5.1, JN.1 and their sub-lineages and their corresponding urban sewage samples in epidemic period were significantly different ( P<0.05). There is a strong correlation between the median of RatiosgRNA/ gRNA in clinical samples and sewage samples in the same period (correlation coefficient r=1.000, P=0.010). Conclusions:In this study, a qRT-PCR method for detecting N_sgRNA of SARS-CoV-2 was established and the method has the characteristics of higher sensitivity, stronger specificity and better repeatability, and it can be used to detect SARS-CoV-2 infectivity.

Objective:To investigate the clinical effects of free superficial circumflex iliac artery (SCIA) superficial branch perforator flap combined with full-thickness skin graft far from the flap donor site in repairing the large wounds in extremities.Methods:The study was a retrospective observational study. From January 2020 to June 2022, 19 patients with large wounds in extremities who met the inclusion criteria were admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College, including 15 males and 4 females, aged 28-75 years. The debridement, fracture reduction and fixation, tendon, vessel, and nerve repair, and vacuum sealing drainage were performed in the first stage surgery. After debridement in the second stage surgery, the total wound area was 13.0 cm×8.0 cm-34.0 cm×15.0 cm. The tendon and bone exposed wound with area of 9.0 cm×6.0 cm-14.0 cm×7.0 cm was repaired with free SCIA superficial branch perforator flap with area of 10.0 cm×6.5 cm-15.0 cm×8.0 cm. The remaining granulation tissue wound with area of 5.0 cm×3.5 cm-13.0 cm×8.0 cm was repaired with full-thickness skin graft far from the flap donor site with area of 5.0 cm×3.5 cm-13.0 cm×8.0 cm. All the wounds in donor site were sutured. The operation time and amount of bleeding of patients during the surgery were recorded, the survival of flap and skin graft were observed after surgery. During follow-up, the flap and skin graft, scar in the donor site and its effect on donor site function were observed. At the last follow-up, the satisfaction of patients with the efficacy was evaluated by the efficacy satisfaction rating score.Results:The operation time of patients was 2.0-3.5 h. The amount of bleeding of patients during the surgery was 100-320 mL. One patient had ecchymosis and venous crisis in the edge of flap on the second day after surgery, and the flap survived after exploration. The flaps of the other patients survived smoothly. The skin grafts of patients all survived smoothly. Two patients had bloated flaps due to obesity in the later stage, and the expected results were achieved after flap thinning surgery 6 months after operation. During the follow-up of 6 to 24 months, the flaps had good elasticity and soft texture, and the skin grafts had no wear or ulceration; linear scars were left in all the donor sites but their functions were not affected. The patients were all satisfied with the efficacy.Conclusions:Free SCIA superficial perforator flap combined with full-thickness skin graft far from the donor site was used to repair the large wounds in extremities, which was safe, reliable, and less traumatic and short in operation time, and resulted in good postoperative appearance and function in the donor sites and recipient sites.

Objective:To explore the clinical effect of a modified surgical procedure for replantation of severed digit-tips in Tamai zones I-II.Methods:From November 2019 to October 2022, the Department of Hand and Foot Microsurgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College employed a modified procedure (to abandon the anatomically labelling of blood vessels and nerves after naked-eye debridement and fracture fixation, then perform the microscopic dissections and anastomoses of blood vessels and nerves, and the anastomosis of dorsal veins though an auxiliary small incision by the lateral nail fold of the severed digit-tip) to replant severed digit-tips in Tamai zones I-II of 26 patients (29 digits). The patients were 20 males (23 digits) and 6 females (6 digits), aged 3-66 years old, with mean age at 28 years old. Nineteen digit-tips were severed in Tamai zone I and 10 in Tamai zone II. The severed digit-tips were 7 of thumbs, 9 of index fingers, 5 of middle fingers, 5 of ring fingers and 3 of little fingers. Causes of injury were 12 of cut, 8 of crush and 6 of avulsion. Postoperative management included infection prevention, antispasmodic for 3 days and keeping in bed for 5 days. The time of surgery was recorded on all patients. Postoperative follow-ups were conducted at outpatient clinics for 6 to 12 months to observe the survival of digit-tips and the appearance, recovery of sensation and motor functions, strength of digits and patient satisfaction.Results:(1)The surgical time was about 1.0 hour for replantation of a severed digit-tip in Tamai zone I, while it took about 1.5 hours for those in Tamai zone II. (2)Survival rate and appearance: all 29 replanted digit-tips survived, except 2 in Tamai zone I which encountered venous occlusion and survived after small incision for bloodletting. Twenty-two digit-tips gained pulp fat pads with full digit pulps. Four avulsed digit-tips had mild atrophy of pulp. The 15 digit-tips severed in Tamai zone I were about 2 mm shorter than the healthy sides, but without deformity. One digit-tip had poor nail appearance due to preoperative fungal infection of nail bed. (3)Sensory recovery: with the British Medical Research Council (BMRC), 23 digit-tips recovered to S 3+, and 2 digit-tips of avulsion and 1 digit-tip of crush recovered to S 3. TPD of the replanted digit-tips were: 4-7 mm in those of cut injury; 6-8 mm in those of crush and 9-11 mm in those of avulsion. (4)Motion and digit strength: results of functional assessment according to the total active mobility standard promoted by China's Society for Surgery of the Hand were: 21 cases of excellent and 5 of good, without pain in digit pulp when pinching and griping. The mobility of the digits with replanted digit-tips of both Tamai zones I and II were close to that of the healthy sides. The motions of the digits with replanted digit-tips in Tamai zone I were close to the healthy sides and the 5 of those in Tamai zone II had 0° in extension and 2°-3° in flexion, due to the severed plane at distal interphalangeal joint. (5)Patient satisfaction: 25 patients were satisfied, however 1 patient was dissatisfied to the poor function of the distal interphalangeal joint due to the severed thumb-tip in Tamai zone II. Conclusion:Modified replantation procedure for severed digit-tip in Tamai zones I-II has significant achievement in cutting down the surgical time through a modified procedure of debridement and fracture fixation (tendon suture) by naked-eyes operation first, followed by dissections and anastomoses of the blood vessels and nerves under the surgical microscope. The auxiliary small incision by the lateral nail fold of digit-tip in Tamai zone I facilitates an exposure of a constant, healthy lateral nail fold vein. It enables the anastomosis with a high-quality vein, hence improves the success rate of replantation. The appearance and function of the replanted digit-tip are found better in the severed digit-tips of cut injury than those with injuries of avulsion and crush.

Objective To investigate the correlations of postoperative serum levels of soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) and CC-chemokine ligand 3 (CCL3) with postoperative deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in patients with multiple rib fractures. Methods A total of 110 patients with multiple rib fractures were selected as the study subjects and divided into non-DVT group (n=79) and DVT group (n=31) based on the occurrence of postoperative DVT. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine the expression levels of serum sCD40L and CCL3. Pearson correlation analysis was employed to analyze the correlations of serum sCD40L, CCL3 with coagulation function indicators. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the influencing factors of postoperative DVT in patients with multiple rib fractures. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to evaluate the predictive value of serum sCD40L and CCL3 for postoperative DVT. Results The expression levels of serum sCD40L and CCL3 in the DVT group were significantly higher than those in the non-DVT group (P < 0.05). There were statistically significant differences in D-dimer, prothrombin time (PT), thrombin time (TT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and fibrinogen (FIB) between the two groups (P < 0.05). In the DVT group, serum levels of sCD40L and CCL3 were positively correlated with D-dimer and FIB, and negatively correlated with PT, TT and APTT (P < 0.05). D-dimer, PT, APTT, FIB, sCD40L and CCL3 were identified as influencing factors for postoperative DVT in patients with multiple rib fractures (P < 0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) of serum sCD40L and CCL3 alone for predicting postoperative DVT in patients with multiple rib fractures was 0.753 and 0.754, respectively, which was significantly smaller than 0.863 of their combined prediction (P < 0.05). Conclusion Postoperative DVT in patients with multiple rib fractures is associated with high levels of serum sCD40L and CCL3, which have certain predictive value for postoperative DVT.

Objective:To evaluate the clinical effect of striated free wrist transverse flap pedicled with superficial palmar branch of radial artery carrying sensory nerve in repairing pulp defect of middle-and-distal segments of fingers.Methods:From February 2019 to March 2021, the data of 20 patients with defects of middle-and-distal finger segment were collected. The defects were repaired with striated free wrist transverse flaps pedicled with superficial palmar branch of radial artery. The defects sized were 2.0 cm×1.5 cm-4.0 cm×1.5 cm, and the flaps sized were 2.5 cm×2.0 cm-4.5 cm×2.0 cm. The flap carried metacarpal cutaneous branch of median nerve for the reconstruction of the sensation of finger pulps. The donor sites were directly sutured. After operation, the patients were evaluated according to the shape, sensation and functional recovery of the repaired fingers through outpatient visits and reviews via WeChat.Results:All 20 flaps survived and the wounds healed well. All patients entered regular follow-up for 6-12(average, 8) months. The colour of the flaps was close to the finger skin, without bloating flaps. The flaps were soft in good shapes and function. TPD were 6-11 mm, at 8 mm in average. The scars at the donor sites were hidden and the wrist function was not affected. According to the Trial Evaluation Standard of Upper Limb Function of Hand Surgery Society of Chinese Medical Association, 16 patients were classified as excellent and 4 as good.Conclusion:The striated transverse wrist flap with radial artery palmar superficial branch and sensory nerve offers many advantages, such as a good texture, hidden donor site, convenient flap harvesting, good recovery of sensation, etc. More clinical studies and the promotion of the technique are expected.

Complex and huge wound closure is a key step in pre hospital emergency care. Wound closure can effectively reduce the loss of blood and fluid inpatients before arriving hospital. Also, it has important significance to save the lives of patients. In this paper, a new type of wound closure device is developed, which is used for the rapid closure of complex and huge wound. Firstly, based on the detailed introduction of the structure working principle, the finite element simulation technology is adopted to analyze the stress of the structure. The results show that the stress of the structure has not beyond the allowable stress of the material. On the basis of this, the experiment was carried out in vitro. Test results show that the closure device operating time is 18.24 s and the minimum penetration of the skin force is 4.08 kg. The closure device can resist the horizontal tension of 1.53 kg and vertical tension of 2.25 kg. It also has good sealing performance and meets the design requirements. The results show that the device designed is reasonable, which can be quickly and effectively to achieve closure of the wound.