OBJECTIVE: To provide a new reconstructive method to treat refractory ulcers on the sole of the forefoot. METHODS: The reversed medial plantar flap with the medial plantar pedal artery and vein as pedicle was used to treat the refractory ulcers on the sole of the forefoot in 5 cases. The size of the flap was 3.5-5.0 cm x 4.0-5.5 cm. The deformities were corrected at the same time and the flaps were protected after operation. RESULTS: All flaps survived without complications. There was no recurrence after 6-month following-up. The patients could walk. CONCLUSION: The distal ends of medial plantar pedal artery and vein have plenty anastomoses with dorsal pedal artery and deep plantar arch. The reversed medial plantar flap has reliable blood supply by these anastomoses. The reversed medial plantar flap should be a choice in treating refractory ulcers on the sole of the forefoot.
Plantar pressure distribution can reflect the force of several key points on foot while standing and walking. A comprehensive understanding of the plantar pressure distribution makes great sense in the following aspects:the understanding of the normal foot biomechanics and function, clinical diagnosis, measurement of disease extent, postoperative efficacy evaluation, and rehabilitation research. A simple plantar pressure measurement device was designed in this study. This paper uses FlexiForce flexible sensor to pickup plantar pressure signal and USB A/D board to do data acquisition. The data are transferred into a laptop and processed by a VB-based software which can display, remember and replay the data. We chose patients with hallux valgus and normal people to measure the pressure distribution and make contrast analysis of plantar pressure with this device. It can be concluded that people with hallux valgus have higher pressure on the second metatarsophalangeal joint and the distribution move outward. The plantar pressure of patients postoperative could be greatly improved compared to the preoperative. The function of this device has been confirmed.
Turning gait is very common in daily lives. However, study of turning is still limited. For researching the differences of the walking characteristics between straight gait and turning gait and between different turning strategies, and for analyzing the endopathic factor, this study selected 10 healthy young men to perform straight walking and 90° turning using two turning strategies (outside leg turning and inside leg turning). The Vicon capture system and plantar pressure capture system were used to measure gait parameters and plantar pressure parameters at the same time. The study showed that stride velocity reduced while stride time and proportion of stance time increased when turning was compared to straight walking. Inside leg turning strategy needed stronger muscle controlling and could promote turning, while outside leg turning strategy was more stable. This results will offer data for projecting gait of biped robot and provide reference value for walking rehabilitation training design and development of walking assistive equipments, etc.
Object ive To explore the ef fect s of di f ferent surgical methods on plantar ulcer s in leprosy. Methods The cl inical data of 71 patients with leprosy plantar ulcers and treated with different surgical methods between October 1950 and October 2006 were analyzed retrospectively. In group A, 34 cases underwent debridement, including 26 males and 8 females aged 53-88 years old (average 72.4 years old); the course of ulcer averaged 29.0 years; the size of ulcer ranged from 5 cm × 3 cm × 2 cm to 11 cm × 7 cm × 3 cm; the disabil ity degrees of the affected foot was mild in 25 cases andsevere in 9 cases according to the self-designed evaluation system. In group B, 22 cases received foot pressure rebuilding surgery, including 19 males and 3 females aged 48-83 years old (average 69.8 years old); the course of ulcer averaged 33.5 years; the size of ulcer ranged from 5 cm × 3 cm × 2 cm to 12 cm × 7 cm × 3 cm; the disabil ity degrees of the affected foot was mild in 12 cases and severe in 10 cases. In group C, 15 cases were repaired with the transposition of toe flap, foot arch flap, acrotarsium flap, or medial tibia flap, including 11 males and 4 females aged 43-73 years old (average 64.6 years old); the course of ulcer averaged 29.3 years; the size of ulcer ranged from 6 cm × 3 cm × 2 cm to 11 cm × 5 cm × 3 cm; the disabil ity degrees of the affected foot was mild in 9 cases and severe in 6 cases. No significant differences were evident among three groups in terms of the general information (P gt; 0.05), except for the difference between group A and group C on age (P lt; 0.05). Results Group A: 19 out of 34 cases healed and the average heal ing time was 46.8 days; all patients were followed up for 2-45 years (average 17.2 years); the rate of ulcer heal ing 1 year after operation was 55.9% (19/34); 12 healed ulcer patients relapsed at average 1.5 years after operation; the rate ofulcer heal ing at last follow-up was 20.6% (7/34). Group B: 18 out of 22 cases healed and the average heal ing time was 29.2 days; all patients were followed up for 2-50 years (average 13.3 years); the rate of ulcer heal ing 1 year after operation was 81.8% (18/22); 7 healed ulcer patients relapsed at average 3.3 years after operation; the rate of ulcer heal ing at last follow-up was 50.0% (11/22). Group C: 14 out of 15 cases healed and the average heal ing time was 27.1 days; all patients were followed up for 3-12 years (average 8.8 years). The rate of ulcer heal ing 1 year after operation was 93.3% (14/15); 7 healed ulcer patients relapsed at average 4 years after operation; the rate of ulcer heal ing at final follow-up was 46.7% (7/15). For the rate of ulcer heal ing 1 year after operation, there was a significant difference between group A and group B, and between group A and group C (P lt; 0.05), but no significant difference was evident between group B and group C (P gt; 0.05). For the rate of ulcer heal ing at the final follow-up visit, there was a significant difference between group A and group B (P lt; 0.05), but no significant difference was evident between group A and group C, and between group B and group C (P gt; 0.05). Conclusion The surgical treatment of plantar ulcers in leprosy should include the alleviation of the plantar high-pressure zone and the transposition of the flaps, providing good short-term and long-term therapeutic effect.
Objective To investigate the effectiveness of the wrap-around great toe flap combined with medial plantar artery perforator flap (MPAP) for repairing the completely degloved fingers. Methods Between February 2018 and December 2019, 12 patients with the completely degloved fingers caused by machine strangulation were admitted. There were 9 males and 3 females with a median age of 32 years (range, 18-42 years). The injured finger was index finger in 7 cases, middle finger in 3 cases, and ring finger in 2 cases. The skin was avulsed from the metacarpophalangeal joint level, with the intact tendon and joint. The interval between injury and admission was 1-8 hours (mean, 5 hours). All fingers were taken debridement during the emergency operation. The size of the skin defect ranged from 8.0 cm×5.0 cm to 12.0 cm×7.5 cm. After flap thinning, the wrap-around great toe flap (8.0 m×2.0 cm-12.0 cm×3.5 cm) and MPAP (8.0 cm×4.0 cm-12.0 cm×5.5 cm) were used to repair the degloved finger. The donor sites were repaired with the full-thickness skin graft or the flap. Results All flaps and skin grafts survived completely without significant complications and the wounds at recipient and donor sites healed by first intention. All patients were followed up 12-16 months (mean, 14 months). The texture, appearance, and color of the affected fingers were close to those of normal fingers, and the nails grew normally. At last follow-up, the mean two-point discrimination of the flap was 9 mm (range, 8-10 mm), and the sensation of the injured finger recovered to S3-S4. And 10 cases were rated as excellent and 2 cases as good according to the Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire (MHQ). There was no complication such as pain from walking or skin ulceration at the donor site. The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score was excellent in 9 cases and good in 3 cases. Conclusion Treating for the completely degloved fingers, the wrap-around great toe flap combined with MPAP can obtain good effectiveness in the respect of the sensation, function, and appearance.
Based on force sensing resistor(FSR) sensor, we designed insoles for pressure measurement, which were stable and reliable with a simple structure, and easy to wear and to do outdoor experiments with. So the insoles could be used for gait detection system. The hardware includes plantar pressure sensor array, signal conditioning unit and main circuit unit. The software has the function of data acquisition, signal processing, feature extraction and classification function. We collected 27 groups of gait data of a healthy person based on this system to analyze the data and study pressure distribution under various gait features, i.e. walking on the flat ground, uphill, downhill, up the stairs, and down the stairs. These five gait patterns for pattern recognition and classification by K-nearest neighbors (KNN) recognition algorithm reached up to 90% accuracy. This preliminarily verified the usefulness of the system.
Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of tibial nerve transection with epineurial suture and division of the common plantar digital nerve branches in the treatment of congenital macrodactyly in children. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical data from 9 children with congenital macrodactyly who met the selection criteria and were admitted between January 2018 and December 2024. The cohort included 4 boys and 5 girls, aged 1-6 years (median, 3 years). Syndactyly of the second and third toes was present in 2 patients. Hypertrophy distribution was as follows: 1 case of single-ray involvement, 4 of double-ray, 1 of triple-ray, 1 of quadruple-ray, and 2 of quintuple-ray. Preoperatively, 7 cases exhibited limitations in both active and passive flexion and extension of the affected toes; in 2 cases, active movement was restricted while passive motion remained intact. All 9 children were unable to wear standard-sized footwear for the unaffected foot. Six presented with a limp, and 3 had difficulty walking. All 9 cases were moderate to severe progressive macrodactyly, and the growth rate of the affected foot was significantly faster than that of the healthy side. Six cases had undergone prior surgical interventions at other institutions, but disease progression continued postoperatively. All 9 patients underwent tibial nerve transection with epineurial suture and selective division of the common plantar digital nerve branches. At last follow-up, the foot growth rate was calculated (compared with that immediately after operation), and the changes of plantar pain sensation in the affected foot were detected before operation, immediately after operation, and at last follow-up, and the surgical efficacy was evaluated based on improvements in shoe fit and gait function. Results All 9 children were followed up 6-36 months, with an average of 18 months. All the incisions healed by first intention, and no infection or plantar ulceration occurred. At last follow-up, the growth rate of the affected foot was 0.10 (0.04, 0.14) cm/month, which was significantly slower than that of the healthy foot [0.14 (0.08, 0.18) cm/month] (Z=3.951, P<0.001). Preoperatively, plantar pain sensation was absent in all cases; it was restored immediately after operation. At last follow-up, 6 patients had absent pain sensation, 2 had partial preservation (involving certain toes and central plantar regions), and 1 patient (with 3-year follow-up) exhibited regained sensation in multiple plantar areas. Gait improved in most cases, in which 8 children achieved normal ambulation, while 1 continued to limp due to leg-length discrepancy. Surgical efficacy were rated as excellent in 1 case, good in 7, and fair in 1. Conclusion Tibial nerve transection with epineurial suture combined with selective division of the common plantar digital nerve branches effectively reduces the growth rate of congenital macrodactyly in children, has minimal impact on plantar sensory function, and does not result in plantar ulcers or impaired ambulation.