Sural Artery Flap for the Treatment of Soft Tissue Defects around Knee Joint.
- Author:
Kee Jeong BAE
1
;
Young Ho LEE
;
Min Bom KIM
;
Hyuk Jin LEE
;
Ji Eun KWON
;
Goo Hyun BAEK
Author Information
1. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. orthoyhl@snu.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Knee joint;
Soft tissue defect;
Sural artery flap
- MeSH:
Arteries;
Arthroplasty;
Female;
Humans;
Knee;
Knee Joint;
Male;
Organic Chemicals;
Osteomyelitis;
Prostheses and Implants;
Range of Motion, Articular;
Sensation;
Sensory Thresholds;
Skin;
Survival Rate;
Tissue Donors;
Transplants
- From:Journal of the Korean Microsurgical Society
2012;21(2):143-148
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: This report presents the authors' experience of twelve patients with sural artery flap for soft tissue defects around the knee joint. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The patients' age ranged from 25 to 80 years; seven of the patients were male and five were female. The cause of soft-tissue defects involved wide excision for malignant soft tissue tumor, tumor prosthesis related infection, infection after total knee arthroplasty and chronic osteomyelitis. Postoperative range of motion was checked. The sensibility of flap was evaluated by Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments and two-point discrimination. RESULTS: All flaps survived and provided satisfactory coverage of the defect. There was no complication except one delayed skin graft incorporation at donor site. Seven knee joints which had been stiff previously gained average 58 degrees of ROM postoperatively. All flaps retained sensibility and showed no significant increase in sensory thresholds comparing with contralateral side. CONCLUSION: Sural artery flap not only shows high survival rate and broad coverage ability, but also offers improvement in range of motion and preservation of sensation. We speculate that sural artery flap is valuable for the reconstruction of the soft tissue defects around knee joint.