Clinical efficacy of staged reconstructive surgery with anterolateral thigh flap for wrist-forearm soft tissue defects of electrical burns
10.3760/cma.j.cn441206-20240711-00172
- VernacularTitle:股前外侧皮瓣分期修复腕部-前臂电烧伤后软组织缺损的临床效果
- Author:
Junjie ZHENG
1
;
Dayong CAO
1
;
Gaoyuan YANG
1
;
Kai YU
1
;
Lei WANG
1
;
Yan LIANG
1
;
Guoyun DONG
1
;
Chengde XIA
1
;
Haiping DI
1
Author Information
1. 郑州市第一人民医院烧伤科，郑州 450004
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Electric burn;
Wrist;
Forearm;
Anteriolateral thigh flap;
Wound reconstruction;
Microsurgical sugery
- From:
Chinese Journal of Microsurgery
2025;48(2):142-148
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To explore the clinical efficacy of staged reconstruction with anterolateral thigh flap (ALTF) for wrist-forearm soft tissue defects of electrical burns.Methods:A retrospective observational study was conducted on 10 patients who had wrist-forearm soft tissue defects after electrical burns and were admitted in the Department of Burns, Zhengzhou First People's Hospital from January 2019 to December 2022. The patients were 6 males and 4 females, aged 8 to 64 years. All the patients were third-and-fourth degree electrical burns. Debridement was performed to remove the necrotic tissues around the wound in stage I surgery. Area of the wound after debridement ranged from 15 cm×11 cm to 31 cm×20 cm. According to the condition of wrist-forearm injury, the wounds with relatively mild injury were retained. Free ALTF was used to cover the wound surface. Size of the flaps ranged from 16 cm×12 cm to 32 cm×21 cm. The descending branch of lateral circumflex femoral artery and the accompanying veins carried by the flap were anastomosed end-to-end with the radial artery and vein or ulnar artery and vein in the recipient site, respectively. Conditions of other vessels were explored. The great saphenous veins in a length of 10-18 cm was used to bridge the occluded arteries. The donor sites were covered by medium thick skin grafts from trunk. After survival of the flap, stage Ⅱ surgery was carried out to debride the wound temporarily retained in stage I surgery and to thin the flap, then had all the wound covered with the thinned flap. Follow-ups were conducted at outpatient clinic, and via telephone and WeChat interviews. The limb salvage, flap survival, vascular compromise and other complications, as well as the donor site healing were observed. The wound coverage rate of the thinned flap. The appearance of flap, donor site scar hyperplasia, the patient satisfaction with the shape and function of the donor site at 6 months after the stage Ⅱ surgery were evaluated. Likert scale was employed to evaluate the patient satisfaction. The Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire (MHQ) and Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) were used to evaluate the upper limb function in daily life of the patients.Results:The limb salvages in the 10 patients were all successful, and the flaps survived without any postoperative event of vascular compromise or other complication. One patient had mild cyanosis at the edges of flap after surgery and regressed at 7 days later. One flap had poor blood circulation and partial necrosis. The thinned flaps covered the wound completely after the stage-Ⅱ flap thinning surgery. The postoperative follow-up period was 6.0-7.0 months. All skin grafts in the donor sites survived well. The thinned flaps of stage Ⅱ surgery achieved 100% in wound coverage rate. At 6 months after surgery, the colour and texture of the flaps were about the same as those of the normal skin of the upper limb. There were linear scars in both of donor and recipient sites. Four patients were satisfactory to the postoperative appearance and function of the donor site and 6 patients were very satisfactory. MHQ scores were 49-82 (mean, 74) points; DASH scores were 27-45 (mean, 32) points.Conclusion:Reconstruction of the wounds in wrist-forearm soft tissue defects of electrical burns with ALTF in staged surgery, can improve the function and aesthetics of the wrist-forearm. It is a good method.
