Operative Orthopädie und Traumatologie
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Oper Orthop Traumatol · Sep 2008
[The distally based sural neurocutaneous island flap for coverage of soft-tissue defects on the distal lower leg, ankle and heel].
Stable coverage of soft-tissue defects in the critical regions of the distal lower leg, ankle and heel by avoidance of a microsurgically transplanted free flap. ⋯ In a retrospective study, eleven out of twelve patients (including six high-risk patients) with a distally based sural neurocutaneous flap were examined on average 3.7 years postoperatively. The mean age was 54.9 years (28-80 years). A stable coverage of the defect was achieved in all twelve patients. In ten of twelve sural flaps the defect site was closed by primary wound healing, additional procedures were necessary in two cases (meshed skin grafting of flap border, excision of skin necrosis). All patients examined were satisfied with the result of the primary operative target, the stable coverage of the defect. Stated disadvantages were loss of sensation in the area of sural nerve function (four times), aesthetic impairment (twice), and pain resulting from sural nerve neuroma above donor site (once).