Soft tissue defects of the lower leg can be closed - following the reconstructive ladder - with a pediculated fasciocutaneous suralis flap, but a free flap is gold standard in most of the cases. Aim of the study was to evaluate complications, risk factors for failure and the reasonableness of this procedure. 91 patients (92 flaps, 70 males, 21 females) with a mean Age of 55 years (16 to 87) were included in the study. The patients had mean four surgical procedures before the flap, the follow-up was mean 407 days. 70 patients were classified ASA I or ASA II.Aim
Method
We evaluated the potential of a vastus lateralis muscle flap in controlling infection after resection arthroplasty of the hip. We retrospectively reviewed 119 patients with 120 chronic infections after resection arthroplasty treated with this procedure. The flap was fixed with Mitek anchors in the acetabular cavity. The mean duration of infection after resection before the muscle flap procedure was 6.5 months (2 to 13). The patients had previously undergone a mean of 4.9 operations (2 to 25). In all patients the infected cavity was the origin of the persistent infection. The mean follow-up was for 2.6 years (1.0 to 4.7). No patient had recurrent infection post-operatively and all had an improvement in the pain and better quality of life.
