Summary:
Reconstruction for injuries around the ankle becomes a
challenge due to limitation of available similar or near
similar tissue. Tendons, bones and joints are frequently
exposed after trauma because of the thinness of the
subcutaneous tissue around the ankle. A durable flap with good texture, reliable vascularity, good arc of rotation and minimum donor site morbidity is always desired for coverage
of such defect. Traditionally local flaps are used for
resurfacing but their use is limited by their size and arc of rotation.
This study was done in the dept. of Plastic Surgery, NITOR from Dec, 2012 to Feb, 2016. Total number of patients was
50 and their age varied from 7 years to 55 years. Among
the 50 patients, 41 patients recovered uneventfully, 8
patients showed partial flap necrosis and complete flap
necrosis in 1 patient.
The distally based sural flap is a versatile and reliable flap
for coverage of soft tissue defects around the ankle. Most
of the cases were single stage procedure except extended
reverse sural flap. The dissection is easy with short operative
time and minimum morbidity. Thus the superficial sural
artery flap can be used as a good alternative to microsurgical
reconstruction.
Key words: Sural artery flap, wound around ankle, soft
tissue reconstruction.
(J Bangladesh Coll Phys Surg 2018; 36: 101-106)
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jbcps.v36i2.36077