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Horch. Plast Aesthet Res 2018;5:42 I http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2347-9264.2018.64 Page 3 of 5

A B

Figure 1. A: Sixty years old patient with typical diabetic foot ulcer, not responding to conservative therapy; B: complete healing of diabetic
foot ulcer after surgical debridement, negative pressure wound therapy and transpositional flap from the sole of the foot with skin graft to
the donor site

reflecting on pedicled flaps in the seldom event when free flaps may not be the first choice for various
reasons [10,11] .

[12]
Techniques optimize results by remote ischemic tissue conditioning to reduce ischemia-reperfusion injury .

Osteomyelitis as a typical problem wound is discussed by thoracic surgeons, as well as the worth of
[13]
interdisciplinary approaches to cure extended sternoclavicular joint infections in cirrhotic patients .
The value of negative pressure wound therapy with instillation (NPWTi) in pressure ulcers is described and
[14]
the use of instillational therapy of infected wounds is discussed by a multi-institutional group of experts .
A very recent aspect of burn surgery is the advent of enzymatic debridement as an additional tool for wound
healing and experts reflect on the state of the art in enzymatic debridement in burn patients [15,16] .

The specific problems of wound healing in postbariatric body contouring surgery are pointed out in a review
[17]
that reflects the specific wound healing problems in this type of surgery .

The recent knowledge about the role of adipose derived stem cells in cutaneous wound repair is highlighted
with highly interesting results [18,19] . Wound healing mediated through the prefabrication of flaps and aspects
of neoangiogenesis that is initiated via venous grafts in arteriovenous loops are one more outstanding
contribution to the interaction of wound healing and plastic surgery [20-22] .

Given the various facettes of papers on wound healing and plastic surgery compiled in this special issue the
compilation of original papers and reviews certainly is a unique demonstration of the enormously broad
spectrum of current superb clinical and research knowledge in plastic surgery and wound healing. It covers
important aspects of what is currently on the cutting edge in our specialty.

CONCLUSION
Because an ideal flap for all defects does not exist, each patient and defect must be evaluated separately to
determine the best surgical approach. It turns out that today plastic surgical reconstruction is no more only