METHODS: The authors conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, prospective clinical trial. The susceptibility to scar development varied among patients; therefore, sternal wounds were divided into the upper half and the lower half. Two types of coded gel prepared by an independent pharmacist were used on either half. Thus, selection and assessment biases and confounders were eliminated.
RESULTS: One hundred wounds in 50 patients were randomized into two arms, 50 control and 50 silicone gels. The median age was 61 years and there were 34 men and 16 women. Ethnic distribution was 28 Malays, 18 Chinese, and four Indians. No side effect caused by the silicone gel was noted. Ninety-eight percent of patients had moderate to good compliance. The incidence of sternotomy scar was 94 percent. At the third month postoperatively, the silicone gel wounds were scored lower when compared with the control wounds. The differences were statistically significant in all parameters, including pigmentation (p = 0.02), vascularity (p = 0.001), pliability (p = 0.001), height (p = 0.001), pain (p = 0.001), and itchiness (p = 0.02).
CONCLUSIONS: The effect of silicone gel in prevention of hypertrophic scar development in sternotomy wounds is promising. There are no side effects and patients' compliance is satisfactory. This study may popularize the use of silicone gel in all types of surgery to minimize the formation of hypertrophic scars in the early postoperative period.
METHODS: The authors describe a modified second toe transfer that addresses cosmesis in six patients. These include (1) harvesting a flap from the adjacent side of the great toe and insetting it into the volar aspect of the second toe to give more bulk, (2) making skin excisions on each side of the tip to reduce the bulbous appearance, and (3) excising the eponychium to produce apparent lengthening of the nail.
RESULTS: The mean follow-up period was 18 months (range, 6 to 36 months). The procedure resulted in good function and improved cosmesis in all six cases. Part of the great toe flap was lost in one case. The mean two-point discrimination in the transferred toes was 10.1 mm, with protective sensation present in the flaps. The range of motion of the transferred toe was 14 to 38 degrees at the metatarsophalangeal joint, 16 to 55 degrees at the proximal interphalangeal joints, and 20 to 36 degrees in the distal interphalangeal joints. All patients except one were happy with the appearance of the transferred toe.
CONCLUSION: This novel approach will allow patients to take advantage of the lower morbidity to the donor site afforded by second toe-to-thumb transfer and provide the patients with a more aesthetic appearance of the new thumb.