0.05). Conclusions Ultrasonography is an objective, accurate, non-invasive and utility method to evaluate the saphenous artery of saphenous skin flap before operation.

Objective To explore the repair method for refractory diabetic wound. Methods A total of 206 patients with refractory diabetic foot ulcers were treated with proper surgical treatments.Results Of all, 106 patients were treated by skin flap (51.5 % ), with one stage wound healing rate of 85.8%; 122 patients were repaired with split-thickness skin graft ( 59.2% ), with survival rate of the graft for 79.5%. Simple toe amputation was made in 34 patients (46 toes). The high level amputation was performed in 56 patients (27.2%). Of all, 132 patients were followed up for 6-18 months, which showed that ulcer recurred in 12 patients (9.1%). Conclusion Timely and effective treatment as well as flap and skin graft repair could reduce high level amputation rate of diabetic foot ulcer and promote the quality of life.

OBJECTIVETo study the effect of the color doppler flow imaging (CDFI) technique in the design of the axial pattern flap.

METHODSFrom March 1996 to June 1999, ten patients were included in this study. Among them, there were seven males and three females. Their defects ranged from 6 cm x 8 cm to 15 cm x 20 cm. Before operation, an axial flap was designed by the traditional method. Then CDFI technique of high frequency (5.0-7.5 MHz) was used to examine the major arterial supply of the flap and modify the design accordingly. At last, the modified flap was transferred to cover the defect.

RESULTSAll the patients except one underwent the operation successfully. The cosmetic and functional results of the flap were excellent.

CONCLUSIONCDFI is a simple, direct and accurate method for detecting the vascular supply of an axial pattern flap. This technique should be popularized to avoid blindness of flap design.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Surgical Flaps ; blood supply ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color