【Abstract】 Objective To investigate the operative techniques and cl inical results of repairing the soft tissue defectsof forearm and hand with free peroneal perforator-based sural neurofasciocutaneous flap. Methods From May 2006 toJanuary 2007, 6 patients including 5 males and 1 female were treated. Their ages ranged from 22 years to 51 years. They were injured by motor vehicle accidents (2 cases), or crushed by machines (4 cases), with skin defect of hand in 1 case, skin defect of hand associated with tendon injuries and metacarpal fractures in 2 cases, skin defect of forearm in 2 cases, and forearm skin defects with fractures of radius and ulna in 1 case. The areas of soft tissue defect ranged from 16 cm × 7 cm to 24 cm × 10 cm. The debridement and the primary treatment to tendons or bones were performed on emergency. And free flaps were transplanted when the wound areas were stable at 4 to 7 days after the emergent treatment. During the operation, the flaps were designed along the axis of the sural nerve nutrient vessels according to the shape and size of the soft tissue defects, with the peroneal perforator above the lateral malleolus as the pedicle and along with a part of the peroneal artery for vascula anastomosis. Then the flaps were harvested and transferred to the reci pient sites with the peroneal vartey anastomosed to the radial (or ulnar) artery and the peroneal veins to one of the radial (or ulnar) veins and the cephal ic vein, respectively. The flap size ranged from 18 cm × 8 cm to 25 cm × 12 cm. The donor areas were closed by skin grafts. Results The 5 flaps survived after the surgery. Partial inadequate venous return and distal superficial necrosis happened in only 1 case, which also got secondary heal ing by changing dressing and anti-infective therapy. The donor sites reached primary heal ing completely. The followed-up in all the patients for 6 to 13 months revealed that the appearance and function of the flaps were all satisfactory, and no influence on ambulation of donor site was found. Conclusion Peroneal perforator-based sural neurofasciocutaneous flap has the advantages of favourable appearance, constant vascular pedicle, rel iable blood supply, large size of elevation and minor influence on the donor site. And the free transfer of this flap is an ideal procedure to repair the large soft tissue defects of forearm and hand.
Objective To summarize the cl inical experience of repairing soft tissue defect in dorsal pedis with reversed fascia pedicled peroneal perforating branch sural neurofasciocutaneous flap, and to explore surgery matters needingattention and measures to prevent flap necrosis. Methods Between August 2000 and April 2009, 31 patients with soft tissue defects in dorsal pedis were treated with reversed fascia pedicled peroneal perforating branch sural neurofasciocutaneous flaps. There were 23 males and 8 females with a median age of 34 years (range, 3-65 years). Defects were caused by traffic accident in 20 cases, by machine in 2 cases, and by crush in 2 cases. The time from injury to admission was 1-32 days (mean, 15 days). And 6 cases had chronic ulcer or unstable scar excision with disease duration of 6 months to 10 years, and 1 case had squamous carcinoma with disease duration of 5 months. The wounds were located in medial dorsal pedis in 12 cases and lateral dorsal pedis in 19 cases; including 14 wounds near the middle metatarsal and 17 wounds beyond the middle metatarsal (up to the metatarsophalangeal joint in 10 cases). All cases accompanied with bone or tendon exposure. Five cases accompanied with long extensor muscle digits tendon rupture and defect, 1 case accompanied with talus fracture, 1 case accompanied with talus fracture and third metatarsal fracture. The size of the wounds ranged from 6.0 cm × 4.5 cm to 17.0 cm × 10.0 cm. The size of the flaps ranged from 8.0 cm × 5.5 cm to 20.0 cm × 12.0 cm. The donor sites were resurfaced by skin graft. Results Seventeen flaps survived uneventfully, wounds healed by first intention. Distal epidermal or superficial necrosis occurred in 6 flaps at 5-12 daysafter operation, wounds healed by dressing change or skin graft. Distal partial necrosis occurred in 8 flaps (7 in medial dorsal pedis and 1 in lateral dorsal pedis) at 7-14 days after operation, wounds healed by skin graft in 3 cases, by secondary suture in 3 cases, by local flap rotation in 1 case, and by cross leg flap in 1 case. All skin grafts at donor sites survived uneventfully, wounds healed by first intention. Twenty-nine patients were followed up 6-29 months (mean, 19 months). The appearance was sl ightly overstaffed, but wearing shoe function and gait were normal. The texture and color of the flaps in all cases were good. There was no pigmentation and suppuration relapse. There was neither ankle plantar flexion deformity nor hammer toe deformity in 5 cases accompanied with long extensor muscle digits tendon rupture and defect. All fractures healed at 3 months after operation in 2 cases. Conclusion The reversed fascia pedicled peroneal perforating branch sural neurofasciocutaneous flaps are suitable to repair most soft tissue defects in lateral dorsal pedis. When the flaps are used to repair soft tissue defects in medial dorsal pedis, avoiding tension in flaps and fascia pedicles should be noted so as to improve flap survival.
Objective To explore the effectiveness of changeable cross-leg style sural neurovascular flap in repairing contralateral fairly large soft tissue defects on dorsum of forefoot. Methods Between June 2006 and June 2015, 12 patients with fairly large soft tissue defect on dorsum of forefoot were treated. There were 8 males and 4 females, with an average age of 35.6 years (range, 18-57 years). Defects were caused by traffic accident injury in 4 cases, machine crush injury in 3 cases, and heavy object crush injury in 3 cases, with a median disease duration of 11 days (range, 5 hours to 28 days) in the 10 cases; the defect cause was atrophic scar in 2 cases, with disease duration of 2 years and 3 years respectively. The wound size of soft tissue ranged from 6.2 cm×4.1 cm to 11.5 cm×7.4 cm; combined injuries included tendon exposure in all cases and bone exposure in 6 cases. The changeable cross-leg style sural neurovascular flaps were used to repair defects. The width and length of flap pedicle were increased. The cross-leg position was maintained with the elastic net bandage. The size of flaps was 16 cm×7 cm to 21 cm×11 cm, with a pedicle of 8-16 cm in length and 5-6 cm in width. Results After operation, 10 flaps survived, and wound healed by first intention. Extravasated blood occurred at the flap edge in 2 cases and was cured after symptomatic treatment. No pressure sore occurred. All patients were followed up 3-24 months (mean, 7 months). The appearance and function of the affected legs were good, and the flaps had soft texture and normal color. Conclusion Changeable cross-leg style sural neurovascular flap can achieve good effectiveness in repairing fairly large soft tissue defect on dorsum of forefoot. Some drawbacks of single cross-leg style can be avoided.