Intraoperative staining of tissues

: Possibilities of vital dyeing to determine blood supplied from non blood supplied tissues are subject of many years' investigations. They may play an important role in traumatology, reconstructive and septic surgery. In acute traumatic changes one of the methods known is the so called immediate surgical treatment with delayed operation. In chronic and septic pathological changes there exists a great difficulty distinguishing necrotic parts of bone or soft tissues, which are the cause of long lasting inflammation and external fistulas. This process can last for months or even years if not treated by a proper and precise surgical procedure. Very helpful may be vital dying of tissues which was introduced by K. Klemm in 1970 for the surgical treatment of septic bone necrosis using the Disulphine Blue, produced by Imperial Chemical Industries Limited, Pharmaceuticals, Division, Macclesfield Cheshire, G. B. The tissue dyes are used widely for subcutaneous injections in lymphography, i.e. in about 30,000 patients in USA yearly. Disulphine Blue is a water soluble and partly spirit soluble powder giving a blue solution, which can be sterilized in autoclave. After an intravenous application of 0.25-0.5 ml/kg body of 6.2% solution a green colour of skin and conjunctivas appears in 5 minutes. The dye can appear in bile, bronchial tree, feces and in intestine secretions. It is evacuated with urine. Green colour of the skin disappear after 36 hours in children and after 48 hours in adults. This dye has been used as a direct visual test to investigate normal blood-supplied and necrotic soft and bone tissues. This phenomenon can have a special significance for defining the vitality in inflammation of bone tissue, in burns and in necrosis of soft tissues a.a. of the Achilles tendon. A demonstrative case report. Patient K. J., 32 years old, a worker and sportsman was hospitalized in our clinic because of chronic inflammation and purulent fistulas 10 weeks after two operations in one of hospitals because of traumatic right Achilles tendon rupture. During the first operation the tendon was sutured and the leg immobilized for a period of 6 weeks. After that time the plaster dressing was removed and during the rehabilitation was stated a secondary Achilles tendon rupture. The tendon was resutured. The course after the operation was complicated with haematoma and purulent fistulas. Antibiotics were used but without effect. In our Clinic 10 weeks after the primary injury and unsuccessful local treatment we performed a subsequent operation after slow intravenous injection of 10 ml Disulphine Blue.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)