OUTCOME OF DISTALLY BASED SURAL ARTERY FLAP FOR DISTAL THIRD OF LEG AND FOOT DEFECTS

Authors

  • Kuldeep Singh
  • Rajesh Rohilla PGIMS Rohtak India
  • Raj Singh
  • Sarita Singh
  • Bikramjit Singh
  • Milind Tanwar

Abstract

Background: Due to precarious blood supply, skin coverage for defects of leg, heel, dorsum of foot and the ankle has been a complicated task for plastic surgeons & orthopaedic surgeons. The present study aimed to prospectively evaluate the outcome of distally based sural flap for coverage of defects distal third of leg, ankle & foot. Method: In this study 15 patients with soft tissue defects on distal third of leg in (n=2), heel (n=4), medial malleolus (n=3), lateral malleolus (n=1), Achillis tendon (n=2), anterior ankle (n=2) and in dorsum of foot (n=1) were operated for coverage of defect by distally based sural flap. All the cases were done as secondary procedures. Results: All the flaps showed good results except five minor complications. Three flaps showed superficial skin necrosis and two showed partial tip necrosis. Conclusions: Distally based sural artery flap is very useful in covering the defects of lower leg, heel and dorsum of foot. It is reliable, easy to raise with minimal morbidity to the patient. This flap does not sacrifice any of the major vessels of the limb and hence it is very safe flap.Keywords: sural artery flap; distal third leg; dorsolateral foot defect; posterior heel defect

References

Raveendran SS, Perera D, Happuharachchi T, Yoganathan V. Superficial sural artery flap--a study in 40 cases. Br J Plast Surg 2004;57(3):266–9.

Masquelet AC, Romana MC, Wolf G. Skin island flaps supplied by the vascular axis of the sensitive superficial nerves: anatomic study and clinical experience in the leg. Plast Reconstr Surg 1992;89(6):1115–21.

Chen SL, Chen TM, Wang HJ. The distally based sural fascio-musculo-cutaneous flap for foot reconstruction. J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg 2006;59(8):846–55.

Jeng SF, Wei FC. Distally based sural island flap for foot and ankle reconstruction. Plast Reconst Surg 1997;99(3):744–50.

El-Din AB, El-Bassioni LO, El-Hadidy AM. Distally Based Sural Fasciocutaneous Flap for Coverage of Foot Defects. J Plast Reconst Surg 2006;30(2):93–9.

Alam MK, Shaheen MS, Hossain S, Anam S, Rahman S. Sural island flap–a good option for coverage of the exposed heel (Tendo-achillis). J Dhaka Med Coll 2010;19(1):19–24.

Vergara-Amador E. Distally-based superficial sural neurocutaneous flap for reconstruction of the ankle and foot in children. J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg 2009;62(8):1087–93.

Ajmal S, Khan MA, Khan RA, Shadman M, Yousof K, Iqbal T. Distally based sural fasciocutaneous flap for soft tissue reconstruction of the distal leg, ankle and foot defects. J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad 2009;21(4):19–23.

Published

2017-06-25