A Prospective Study of Management of Neck Trauma and its Complications : An Institutional Approach

Background: Assessment and immediate surgical management of laryngotracheal injuries is essential to minimize the risk of perioperative and long term complications [1]. The present study was conducted at tertiary care centre to assess the proportions of complications following neck injuries. Methodology: The study was conducted as a prospective study on 19 patients presenting with laryngotracheal injuries at Emergency department in NSCB Medical College, Jabalpur, India during the study period of 2 years. History was obtained in detail and depending upon the extent and nature of injury, patients were managed. Patients were followed up till discharge for assessment of any postoperative complications. Results: A total of 19 cases with neck trauma were enrolled during our study period with mean age of 27.37±8.88 years. Tracheal breach was noted in 78.9% cases. The most common site of airway injury was tracheal wall (47.3%), followed by Laryngeal trauma with unilateral or bilateral thyroid cartilage (15.8%). Major vessels injury was noted in 26.3% cases and injury to minor blood vessels was observed in 68.4% cases. Wound exploration followed by wound repair was done in 36.8% of the cases whereas emergency tracheostomy along with wound repair was done in 31.6% of the cases. During surgery, brachial plexus injury and surgical site infection were the surgical complications in 1 case each. However, anemia psychiatric tendency and symptoms due to alcohol withdrawal were the complications in 1 case each. Among postoperative complications, persistence of psychiatric symptoms, recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy, withdrawal symptoms, and complications due to brachial plexus injury persisted. Conclusion: Neck injuries and laryngotracheal injuries are rare but life threatening injuries, timely management of which is essentially important to avoid the occurrence of complications. Management often requires multidisciplinary approach due to associated complications. The complications may be immediate or remote which can be prevented if patients are managed timely.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12070-023-03533-7.

Novel Use of Platelet Rich Fibrin Membrane in Transcanal Myringoplasty: A Prospective Study

Being rich in growth factors platelet rich fibrin (PRF) has been used for decades for its healing properties in cosmetic surgeries but its use in transcanal myringoplasty is a novel approach that remains unexplored. In todays era of minimally invasive surgery not only does it provide as a great alternative to conventional myringoplasty but also outshines it. It reduces post operative pain, hospital stay and unlike the conventional technique that uses termporalis fascia as a graft material, PRF myringoplasty if required can be reperformed on the same patient multiple times with minimal risk. This procedure comes as a boon for patients with recurrent graft defects because after multiple revision surgeries, temporalis fascia can be deficient and other graft materials like cartilage/perichondrium or fascia lata etc. have to be harvested surgically for myringoplasty. In PRF myringoplasty there is no upper limit in the number of times the PRF membrane can be made and also it does not entail any surgical incision for graft harvest. A prospective study involving 41 patients was conducted at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College, Jabalpur where in the tympanic membrane perforations were repaired using PRF membrane with a successful outcome in 85.4% of the patients included in this study.

Endothelial cell protein C receptor-mediated redistribution and tissue-level accumulation of factor VIIa

BACKGROUND

Recent studies show that activated factor VII (FVIIa) binds to the endothelial cell protein C receptor (EPCR) on the vascular endothelium; however, the importance of this interaction in hemostasis or pathophysiology is unknown.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of the FVIIa interaction with EPCR on the endothelium in mediating FVIIa transport from the circulation to extravascular tissues.

METHODS

Wild-type, EPCR-deficient or ECPR-over-expressing mice were injected with human recombinant (r)FVIIa (120 μg kg(-1) body weight) via the tail vein. At varying time intervals after rFVIIa administration, blood and various tissues were collected to measure FVIIa antigen and activity levels. Tissue sections were analyzed by immunohistochemistry for FVIIa and EPCR.

RESULTS

The data reveal that, after intravenous (i.v.) injection, rFVIIa rapidly disappears from the blood and associates with the endothelium in an EPCR-dependent manner. Immunohistochemical analyses revealed that the association of FVIIa with the endothelium was maximal at 30 min and thereafter progressively declined. The FVIIa association with the endothelium was undetectable at time points exceeding 24 h post-FVIIa administration. The levels of rFVIIa accumulated in tissue correlate with expression levels of EPCR in mice and FVIIa associated with tissues remained functionally active for periods of at least 7 days.

CONCLUSIONS

The observation that an EPCR-dependent association of FVIIa with the endothelium is most pronounced soon after rFVIIa administration and subsequently declines temporally, combined with the retention of functionally active FVIIa in tissue homogenates for extended periods, indicates that FVIIa binding to EPCR on the endothelium facilitates the transport of FVIIa from circulation to extravascular tissues where TF resides.