A Retrospective Comparative Functional and Aesthetic Outcome Study of Muscle versus Cutaneous Free Flaps for Distal Upper Extremity Reconstruction
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract Background Function and cosmesis are crucial in upper extremity reconstruction. Yet, there persists a lack of outcome evaluations, particularly regarding differences between free flap types. Methods In a single-center retrospective analysis, outcomes were compared between patients with cutaneous or muscle free flaps for distal upper extremity reconstruction between 2008 and 2018. The Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder and Hand -Score, Michigan-Hand (MHQ), and Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) Questionnaires were assessed, motor function was quantified, and self-reported measures of cosmesis were compared, including the Vancouver Scar-Scale (VSS), MHQ aesthetics-subscale (MAS), and Moscona's cosmetic validation-score (CVS). Results One-hundred forty-one cases were identified, with a shift toward cutaneous flaps over the study period. Muscle flaps were used for larger defects (251 vs. 142 cm2, p = 0.008). Losses, thromboses, and donor-site complications were equally distributed. Partial necroses were more frequent in muscle flaps (11 vs. 1%, p = 0.015). Seventy patients with 53 cutaneous versus 17 muscle flaps were reexamined. There was no difference in the timing of flap coverage (after 16 vs. 15 days, p = 0.79), number of preceding (2 vs. 1.7, p = 0.95), or subsequent operations (19/53 vs. 5/17, p = 0.77). Patients with cutaneous flaps showed higher grip strength (25 vs. 17 kg, p = 0.046) and reported better hand function (MHQ: 58 vs. 47, p = 0.044) and general health (SF-36: 70 vs. 61, p = 0.040), as well as more favorable appearance (MAS: 71 vs. 57, p = 0.044, CVS: 77 vs. 72, p = 0.048), and scar burden (VSS: 0 vs. 3, p < 0.001). Conclusion Cutaneous flaps yielded better motor function, self-perceived cosmesis, patient satisfaction, and quality of life in our cohort of distal upper extremity reconstructions.
Fetched live from OpenAlex and de-inverted. Abstracts are not stored in this database: the inverted indexes are 8.6 GB of the frame’s 9.3 GB of text, and the host has 13 GB free.
How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".