Use of anterolateral thigh free flap to repair skin and soft tissue defects of the ankle
Abulaiti· Abula
REN Peng
Aierken· Rehemutula
Aihemaitijiang· Yusufu
Maimaitiming· Saiyiti
Abstract：Objective To summarize the clinical efficacy of anterolateral thigh free flap to repair the soft tissue coverage of the ankle ,especially in children with soft tissue defects of Achilles tendon .Methods From Feb. 2010 to Dec.2014,23 cases with soft tissue defects of the ankle were repaired by use of the anterolateral thigh free flap.There were 17 males and 6 females aged from 4-45(average,21) years.Wounds involved exposures of vessels , bone and tendon.Wound defects ranged from 4cm ×6cm to 23cm ×18cm.Flap cutting ranged from 6cm ×8cm to 25 cm ×20cm.Donor sites were repaired by free skin grafting .Results One case developped flap necrosis; all other flaps and grafted skins were successfully survived ,and all wounds healed by the 1st intention.All patients were successfully followed up for 8 to 46 months,with an average of 16 months.No local ulceration occurred and all flaps have restored with protective sensation .Four cases with degloving injuries received cosmetic debulking opera-tion 8-12 months after initial surgery because of bloated appearance of the flap . Conclusion Anterolateral thigh free flaps have variety of advantages such as massive area ,thick vascular caliber,concealed area,etc..Therefore,the front lateral femoral cutaneous nerve anastomosis can provide a better protective sensation .It can be widely used in repairing skin and soft tissue defects in foot and ankle .
Keywords：soft tissue defectsankleflaprepair
Publication Date：2017-01-01
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：4( 9-12 )