PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “AMPUTATION STUMPS”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 469 records · Page 26Linked to original sources

[Transgenicular amputation: an alternative to thigh amputation?].

Since 1976 we attempted to avoid an above-knee (AK) amputation in favor of a knee disarticulation. From 1976 to 1979 83 patients with an average age of 72 years could be amputated through the knee and 55 patients with average age of 73 years had to be submitted to an AK-amputation. As compared to the AK-amputation the transgenicular (TG) resection has the following advantages: 1) Lower postoperative mortality (TG 10%, AK 33%). --2) Higher prosthetic fitting rate (TG 77%, AK 61%). --3) Significantly improved rehabilitation of the patient (walking with artificial limb: TG 67%, AK 20%). --The results of a TG-amputation may be impaired by disturbances of wound healing with subsequent necrosis and/or infection. Among our patients every forth amputation stump following TG-resection had to be reamputated at above-knee level.

Aged↗

[Amputation of the lower leg with formation of a musculo-cutaneous flap in vascular diseases].

A report is presented on leg amputations with formation of a posterior musculocutaneous flap, as used since 1970 at the authors' clinic for vascular diseases. A total of 87 patients were operated on. In 74.7%, the amputation stump healed per primam; in 88.7%, movements of the knee joint were completely preserved. Rehabilitative walking on the prosthesis is possible very soon after the operation. The described method of amputation may also be recommended for patients with extensive loss of circulation of the lower extremities, including cases complicated by diabetes.

Adult↗

The free-fillet flap for reconstruction of the upper extremity.

The pedicled fillet flap concept has been successfully applied in both the upper and lower extremities for the treatment of difficult wounds. However, in cases of complete extremity amputation, the transfer of pedicled flaps from the amputated part is not possible. In such instances, we have designed free-fillet flaps from the amputated limb to provide wound coverage when replantation of the amputated part was contraindicated. This technique allows immediate wound coverage and preservation of functional amputation stump length, without the morbidity of an additional donor site. We present three cases that demonstrate the utility of this technique as an additional reconstructive option in patients with unreplantable upper-extremity amputations.

Adult↗

Somatosensory cortical map changes following digit amputation in adult monkeys.

The cortical representations of the hand in area 3b in adult owl monkeys were defined with use of microelectrode mapping techniques 2-8 months after surgical amputation of digit 3, or of both digits 2 and 3. Digital nerves were tied to prevent their regeneration within the amputation stump. Successive maps were derived in several monkeys to determine the nature of changes in map organization in the same individuals over time. In all monkeys studied, the representations of adjacent digits and palmar surfaces expanded topographically to occupy most or all of the cortical territories formerly representing the amputated digit(s). With the expansion of the representations of these surrounding skin surfaces (1) there were severalfold increases in their magnification and (2) roughly corresponding decreases in receptive field areas. Thus, with increases in magnification, surrounding skin surfaces were represented in correspondingly finer grain, implying that the rule relating receptive field overlap to separation in distance across the cortex (see Sur et al., '80) was dynamically maintained as receptive fields progressively decreased in size. These studies also revealed that: the discontinuities between the representations of the digits underwent significant translocations (usually by hundreds of microns) after amputation, and sharp new discontinuous boundaries formed where usually separated, expanded digital representations (e.g., of digits 1 and 4) approached each other in the reorganizing map, implying that these map discontinuities are normally dynamically maintained. Changes in receptive field sizes with expansion of representations of surrounding skin surfaces into the deprived cortical zone had a spatial distribution and time course similar to changes in sensory acuity on the stumps of human amputees. This suggests that experience-dependent map changes result in changes in sensory capabilities. The major topographic changes were limited to a cortical zone 500-700 micron on either side of the initial boundaries of the representation of the amputated digits. More distant regions did not appear to reorganize (i.e., were not occupied by inputs from surrounding skin surfaces) even many months after amputation. The representations of some skin surfaces moved in entirety to locations within the former territories of representation of amputated digits in every monkey studied. In man, no mislocation errors or perceptual distortions result from stimulation of surfaces surrounding a digital amputation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Afferent Pathways↗

Growth cone formation in cultures of sensory neurons.

Three experimental situations have been found in which cultured sensory neurons from embryonic chicken will form growth cones from positions along the length of the neurite. If the neurons are dissected with a remaining short axonal stump and plated into serum-free medium, they can form a morphologically normal growth cone from the stump within 15 min, even in the presence of cycloheximide or puromycin. When neurites growing in culture media with low levels of serum are cut at any point with microneedles, growth cones are produced quickly from the amputated stump, usually within 20 min. Treatment of growing neurons with low concentrations of colchicine, Colcemid, or podophyllotoxin results in the progressive appearance of lateral filopodia and regions of flattened cytoplasm that closely resemble growth cones except for their preterminal positions. These observations show that the potential to form growth cones is distributed throughout the neuron and suggest that this normally repressed in some way by the neuronal microtubules.

Axons↗

Common pathways in mental imagery and pain perception: an fMRI study of a subject with an amputated arm.

The present paper reviews data from two previous studies in our laboratory, as well as some additional new data, on the neuronal representation of movement and pain imagery in a subject with an amputated right arm. The subject imagined painful and non-painful finger movements in the amputated stump while being in a MRI scanner, acquiring EPI-images for fMRI analysis. In Study I (Ersland et al., 1996) the Subject alternated tapping with his intact left hand fingers and imagining "tapping" with the fingers of his amputated right arm. The results showed increased neuronal activation in the right motor cortex (precentral gyrus) when tapping with the fingers of the left hand, and a corresponding activation in the left motor cortex when imagining tapping with the fingers of the amputated right arm. Finger tappings of the intact left hand fingers also resulted in a larger activated precentral area than imagery "finger tapping" of the amputated right arm fingers. In Study II (Rosen et al., 2001 in press) the same subject imagining painful and pleasurable finger movements, and still positions of the fingers of the amputated arm. The results showed larger activations over the motor cortex for movement imagining versus imagining the hand being in a still position, and larger activations over the sensory cortex when imagining painful experiences. It can therefore be concluded that not only does imagery activate the same motor areas as real finger movements, but also that adding instructions of pain together with imaging moving the fingers intensified the activation compared with adding instructions about non-painful experiences. From these studies, it is clear that areas activated during actual motor execution to a large extent also are activated during mental imagery of the same motor commands. In this respect the present studies add to studies of visual imagery that have shown a similar correspondence in activation between actual object perception and imagery of the same object.

Adult↗

Severe electrical injury.

From January 1979 to January 1987, 125 patients were treated in our Centre for various electrical injuries. Among them, 85 patients were over 15 years of age (89.4 per cent were males and 10.6 per cent females) and 40 patients were below 15 years of age (92.5 per cent were males and 7.5 per cent females). Electricians were the most frequently injured in the over 15-year-old age-group, whereas most patients under 15 years old were students. We focused our study on five patients with multiple and severe electrical injury. Two of these patients were injured while erecting TV aerials, two were injured at work and the other one was working on a house roof. Despite all our efforts extensive limb amputations were required. Following complete healing, we fitted prostheses to the amputation stumps. All the patients have now returned to society as capable individuals, two of them to their previous occupations and the other three with new occupations. Our experience with five patients showed that patients with severe electrical injury and multiple amputations have a reasonable chance of recovery. Rehabilitation therapy must be given as early as possible after the electrical injury so that the patients may return to their normal place in society.

Adolescent↗

Chylothorax following traumatic amputation of upper arm.

A young patient who had traumatic amputation of left arm developed extensive chylothorax on right side of chest. The pathophysiology appears to be left subclavian thrombosis secondary to gross sepsis of the amputation stump which resulted in occlusion of thoracic duct opening and chylothorax. The child was successfully treated by closed chest tube drainage.

Amputation, Traumatic↗

[Treatment of phantom pain with botulinum-toxin A. A pilot study].

BACKGROUND: Therapy of phantom pain following amputation is still difficult, since pathophysiological mechanisms are not clarified. Botulinum-toxin A never has been used for this issue. We report four successfully treated cases with chronic phantom pain longer than 3 years. METHODS: We injected 100 IU botulinum-toxin A (4x25 IU in 0,5 ml preservative-free saline 0.9%) in four muscle-triggerpoints of the amputation stump of each patient. All triggerpoints were painful to compression before injection, all patients reported referred sensations in the phantom-foot from at least one of them. Controls were performed by questioning and pain-diaries after 1,2 and 5 weeks. RESULTS: In all cases phantom pain was reduced about 60-80%. The three patients, who had pain attacks, reported a dramatically reduction of the number of attacks (about 90%). In two of them duration of attacks shortened from 120 to 5-10 min and a reduction of pain intensity from VAS 9 to VAS 1 and VAS 9 to VAS 2 was reported. Disorder of sleep disappeared in both affected patients within 2-3 weeks. Three patients,who could move the phantom foot (mental), had a subjective weakness a few days after botulinum-toxin A injection; in one case although injection was performed in the muscles of the femur! CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report of the use of botulinum-toxin A in the treatment of phantom pain. The contribution of the muscles in the cause of phantom pain is unclear and may be local, as a trigger of spinal reflexes or by modulation of "cortical reorganisation" after amputation. Botulinum-toxin A could work analgesic by the relaxation of the stump muscles or by modulation of neuronal transmitters, for example substance P, with an indirect influence of the CNS.

Adult↗

The use of the reverse radial fasciosubcutaneous flap to provide soft tissue coverage and a distal recipient artery in a difficult case of toe-to-thumb transfer.

Traumatic amputation of the thumb is a devastating injury. Toe-to-hand [Wei FC, Chen HC, Chuang CC, Chen HT. Microsurgical thumb reconstruction with toe transfer: selection of various techniques. Plast Reconstr Surg 1992;93:345; Wei FC, Tarek AE. Toe-to-hand transfer: current concepts, techniques and research. Clin Plast Surg 1996;23:103] transfer is a sophisticated option for replacing this vital structure, but this challenging procedure, is even more demanding if recipient vessels are difficult to locate, inadequate or even absent. Another frequently encountered difficulty in cases of traumatic thumb amputation is inadequate soft tissue cover in the region of the amputation stump or the first web space. Often this defect or potential defect requires a preliminary tissue transfer procedure, before toe-to-hand transfer can be considered.

Adult↗

[Combined laser therapy of diabetic gangrene of the lower limbs].

Results of treatment of 130 patients with diabetic gangrene, whom the lower limb amputation on various levels was conducted, are adduced. In 58 patients the surgical treatment together with combined use of laser was conducted: intravascular irradiation of blood, high-powered laser Application while amputation performance and after it--percutaneous irradiation of amputation stump. Laser use promotes the improvement of immediate results of treatment and decrease of its duration.

Aged↗

Level of amputation following failed arterial reconstruction compared to primary amputation--a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To determine if the level of amputation after failed vascular reconstruction was comparable to the level of amputation after primary amputation. DESIGN AND METHODS: Medline literature search (1975-1996), meta-analysis. RESULTS: The odds ratio of transtibial to transfemoral (TT/TF) amputations was 927/657 = 1.41 (95% confidence limits: 1.278-1.561) in postrevascularisation amputation (PRVA) and 1590/1162 = 1.37 (95% confidence limits: 1.269-1.477) in primary amputation (PA) (p = 0.65). The pooled data show that the number of conversions from transtibial (TT) to transfemoral (TF) amputations due to amputation stump complications were 85/369 (23%) in PRVA against 93/752 (12.4%) in PA (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: We could not detect any difference in TT/TF ratio between PRVA and PA. However, the risk of conversion i.e. reamputation to a higher level is higher after PRVA compared to PA. The chance of having a successful transtibial amputation is approximately 58% for postrevascularisation amputation as well as for primary amputations. An aggressive approach towards vascular reconstruction seems justified.

Amputation, Surgical↗

Fingertip amputation: review of 100 digits.

Evaluation of the functional results and complications of 100 fingertip amputations revealed no difference between the two most commonly used repairs; 52 injuries were treated by primary closure with residual viable skin flaps and 27 by split-thickness skin grafting. No decline in unfavourable functional results was found when patients evaluated 6 weeks after injury were compared to patients evaluated 42 weeks after injury, suggesting that delaying the patient's return to full activity by prolonging rehabilitation is unlikely to yield much improvement. Shortening the nerves in proximal amputations closed by residual flaps did not decrease nerve irritation. Resection of bone produced a mobile amputation-stump tip. While the mean time off work or return to full activity following skin grafting was 6 days less than it was after primary closure, the difference was not significant.

Absenteeism↗

Indications for amputations in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

This is a retrospective study of limb amputations in Ile-Ife, Nigeria during a thirteen-year period (1987-1999). 82 patients were studied with a mean age of 35 +/- 22 years. 63 of the patients were adults, while 19 patients were children aged 15 years and below. Trauma was indicated as a reason for amputation in 60 patients (73.4%). Road traffic accident with peripheral vascular compromise was the single most common reason for amputation (41.7%). Forty-seven of the 82 patients had lower limb amputations, while the others were in the upper limbs. There was delay in performing amputation in some patients due to refusal to accept the procedure in 10(12.1%), logistics in 5(6.1%) and lack of finance in 3 (3.7%). The average healing time of the amputation stump wounds was 47 +/- 36 days. In 68.3% of cases, there was wound infection and the wound healing time was 63 +/- 45 days, much longer than than the general average. Other complications were flap necrosis, gas gangrene, osteomyelitis of the bony stump, and tetanus. Six patients died from sepsis and one from chronic renal failure, a hospital mortality rate of 8.5%. Prosthesis could not be fitted in any of the patients during the hospital admission and only three of the diabetic patients attended follow up clinic for up to two years; others absconded within 3 months of discharge from hospital. It will be possible to reduce the rate of amputation and improve the quality of life of patients with amputation if more attention is placed on accident prevention and injury control.

Adolescent↗

Fingertip reconstruction using two variations of direct-flow homodigital neurovascular island flaps.

The fingertip is an extremely intricate area of digital sensibility that plays an important role in fine perception and hand function. Thus, sensate fingertip reconstruction is essential to the recovery of most hand functions. The authors used two methods of direct-flow homodigital neurovascular island flap coverage to reconstruct distal finger amputations-namely, the triangular-advancement flap technique and the step-advancement flap method. The authors present their experience with these two variations of direct-flow homodigital neurovascular island flaps and their use in reconstructing 18 fingertips and 7 proximal amputation stumps. They did not observe flap failure, and they achieved stable, well-vascularized, appropriate-thickness skin coverage with good sensory properties in all patients. However, they found that the triangular-advancement flap technique was easier to plan and perform than the step-advancement method.

Adolescent↗

Effects of regional anesthesia on phantom limb pain are mirrored in changes in cortical reorganization.

The causes underlying phantom limb pain are still unknown. Recent studies on the consequences of nervous system damage in animals and humans reported substantial reorganization of primary somatosensory cortex subsequent to amputation, and one study showed that cortical reorganization is positively correlated with phantom limb pain. This paper examined the hypothesis of a functional relationship between cortical reorganization and phantom limb pain. Neuroelectric source imaging was used to determine changes in cortical reorganization in somatosensory cortex after anesthesia of an amputation stump produced by brachial plexus blockade in six phantom limb pain patients and four pain-free amputees. Three of six phantom limb subjects experienced a virtual elimination of current phantom pain attributable to anesthesia (mean change: 3.8 on an 11-point scale; Z = -1.83; p < 0.05) that was mirrored by a very rapid elimination of cortical reorganization in somatosensory cortex (change = 19.8 mm; t(2) = 5.60; p < 0.05). Cortical reorganization remained unchanged (mean change = 1.6 mm) in three phantom limb pain amputees whose pain was not reduced by brachial plexus blockade and in the phantom pain-free amputation controls. These findings suggest that cortical reorganization and phantom limb pain might have a causal relationship. Methods designed to alter cortical reorganization should be examined for their efficacy in the treatment of phantom limb pain.

Adult↗

[Transport of finger parts using an abdominal skin flap for finger and thumb reconstructive plastic surgery].

1st. With the aid of an abdominal or an inguinal flap it is possible to reconstruct a finger with sensibility by transporting islands of palmar skin with the corresponding nerve to any amputation stump of the hand. At least three operations are necessary. Parts of bones, joints and tendons may be included in the transported part from the hand. 2nd. These digits are rather bulky. Mobility depends on the preserved joints. 3rd. This method should only be used for thumb reconstruction or to achieve a simple two digit grip. 4th. In children growth of transported bones remains undisturbed.

Adult↗

Prospective study of 713 below-knee amputations for ischaemia and the effect of a prostacyclin analogue on healing. Hawaii Study Group.

In 51 hospitals in six European countries 713 patients requiring below-knee amputation for ischaemic disease were studied prospectively. The patients were allocated randomly to receive standard postoperative treatment or standard treatment plus intravenous infusion of the prostacyclin analogue iloprost for 6 h per day over 14-21 days. Healing of the amputation stump and the need for reamputation at a higher level were similar in the two groups. Overall at 3 months 59 per cent of stumps had healed, 19 per cent of patients had required reamputation at a higher level, 11 per cent had died and the remaining 11 per cent remained with unhealed stumps. Preoperative characteristics were analysed as possible risk factors or markers for primary healing, reamputation and death. Previous arterial reopening procedures (surgical or radiological) almost doubled the chances of primary stump healing (P < 0.05). The surgeon's assessment of the likelihood of healing was wrong in 21 per cent of cases in which the operating surgeon thought that healing would probably occur and in 52 per cent of those in which it was thought healing was improbable.

Adult↗