• Justin Peter Gawaziuk, Tianyi Liu, Leif Sigurdson, Edward Buchel, Thomas Edward Jo Hayakawa, Sarah Shiga, and Sarvesh Logsetty.
• Manitoba Firefighters' Burn Unit, Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
• Burns. 2017 Nov 1; 43 (7): 1561-1566.

BackgroundNecrotizing fasciitis (NF) is a life-threatening infection requiring extensive debridement that may necessitate amputation. Free tissue transfer (FTT) is an option for reconstruction in difficult cases. Currently, only case reports have described FTT in the setting of NF, and comprehensive evidence on flap outcomes is lacking. The present study characterizes outcomes in patients with FTT following NF.MethodsAll patients admitted with NF between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2011 to our level 1 burns/trauma referral center were retrospectively reviewed.ResultsNo significant difference was found in patient demographics between FTT (n=12) and no FTT (n=212). Both groups had the same number of operations, same length of ICU stay, and length of hospitalization. The flaps used were 10 anterolateral thigh, 1 latissimus dorsi and 1 radial forearm. Recipient sites included: upper extremities (6), lower extremities (4), head/neck (1), and genitalia (1). No flap failures and no take-back operations were required. Upper extremities comprised 58.3% of FTT patients compared to 18.9% (p=0.004) in non-FTT patients. Flap operations occurred a mean of 11.6days post-admission with 1.1 operations prior to FTT. Mean FTT size was 213cm2. Flap complications included seroma (n=1), hematoma (n=1). Donor site complications included hematoma (n=1), exposed tendon (n=1) and necrosis (n=1).ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that FTT provides a promising reconstructive option in the setting of NF without adversely affecting patient outcome.Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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