Hydroxyurea is an oral medication associated with painful, nonhealing ulcers, for which there is no effective treatment but permanent discontinuation of hydroxyurea. The authors present a case of leg ulcers that likely occurred as a result of hydroxyurea use in a patient with essential thrombocythemia. Topical treatment with allogeneic platelet-rich plasma and artificial dermis completely healed the leg ulcers without hydroxyurea cessation.

Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a devastating disease with extraordinarily poor treatment outcomes. Both pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) and ozone have good effects on the treatment of the disease. However, whether PRF and ozone have a synergistic effect on PHN remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the therapeutic effects of ozone alone and in combination with PRF in the treatment of PHN. Ninety-one patients with PHN were assigned into two groups: PRF combined with ozone (PRF + ozone group, n = 44) and ozone therapy alone (ozone group, n = 47). In PRF + ozone group, the high-voltage, long-duration PRF was applied to the target dorsal root ganglions. Then ozonated water (11.5 µg/mL) was injected through the inner cannula. In the ozone group, all other processes were the same as those in the PRF + ozone group apart from the electrical stimulation. The therapeutic efficacy was evaluated by visual analog scale and tactile sensation at pre-treatment and post-treatment 3, 6, and 12 months. Compared with pre-treatment data, the visual analog scale score was significantly decreased in both groups after treatment. Compared with the ozone group, the visual analog scale score was significantly decreased in the PRF + ozone group at 3, 6, and 12 months. Similarly, the tactile sensation was also significantly decreased at post-treatment when compared to pre-treatment. However, there were no statistical differences between the two groups. Regression analysis results showed that the history of diabetes mellitus and age had significant negative and positive effects, respectively, on the treatment results. To conclude, the administration of PRF + ozone and ozone therapy alone could both improve pain symptoms. Moreover, treatment effects and total efficacy rates tended to be higher for the combination of PRF and ozone than ozone alone. This conclusion was especially true for long-term therapeutic effects.

Background: Ozone injection around Gasserian ganglion (OIAGG) has been reported to be an effective treatment for trigeminal neuralgia (TN); however, there remain areas for improvement. To overcome one of these limitations, a multicenter examination of application would be extremely helpful. Objective: The goal of this report was to assess the efficacy of OIAGG for refractory TN across multiple centers and to explore factors predictive of successful treatment. Design: A multicenter, retrospective study. Setting: The study was conducted across 3 pain centers across China. Patients and Methods: A total of 103 subjects from 3 pain centers were enrolled in the study. An ozone-oxygen mixture gas at a concentration of 30 µg/mL was injected into the area around the Gasserian ganglion performed under C-arm X-ray guidance. Primary outcome measures included a pain assessment using a visual analog scale (VAS) and the Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) pain intensity scale. Clinical assessment of patients for these outcome measures was performed at pretreatment, post-treatment, 6 months, 1 year and 2 years after the OIAGG. Results: Successful pain relief was defined as a score within BNI grades I-IIIa. The pain relief rates at post-treatment, 6 months, 1 year and 2 years after the procedure were 88.35%, 86.87%, 84.46% and 83.30%, respectively. The VAS at each observation time point was significantly different from the preoperative levels (P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that previous nerve damage had a significant effect on the treatment results. No significant complications or side effects were found during or after treatment. Conclusion: This multicenter research confirms our previous single center results that OIAGG is both effective and safe for patients with TN.

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Congenital auricular deformity (CAD) is a common postpartum deformity, and nonsurgical correction of CAD has been recognized as a safe and effective approach. Three-dimensional (3D) technique has been used in surgical reconstruction of unilateral microtia; however, 3D technique used in nonsurgical correction for deformational CAD has not been reported. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> In this study, 12 CAD patients aged from 0.6 to 7 months with 16 deformational CAD were treated with 3D technique-based personalized nonsurgical correction (3D-NSC). Patients’ CAD was photographed pre- and post-correction, and clinical outcome was evaluated as poor, fair, good, and excellent by comparing pre- and post-correction pictures. Different kinds of tests were used to analyze the data. <b><i>Results:</i></b> All patients got an improved auricle shape (10 excellent, 2 good, and 4 fair). Multivariate regression analysis showed that CAD type was significantly associated with correction outcome, sex and age were significantly associated with correction outcome for the 11 constructed types of CAD, and age was significantly associated with the correction outcome when we focused on the male constructed auricles. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> 3D-NSC provided a significant nonsurgical clinical treatment for CAD patients, with younger patients getting better clinical outcomes with shorter correction time.

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