• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.70-75
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• 2014

Purpose: Soft-tissue reconstruction in the knee area requires thin, pliable, and tough skin. The range of motion of the knee also acts as a limitation in using only local flaps for coverage. The author has successfully used various perforator flaps for soft tissue reconstruction around the knee while preserving its functional and cosmetic characteristics. Materials and Methods: Out of the twenty patients assessed from April 2009 to March 2011, seven received anterolateral thigh perforator flaps, four received medial sural perforator island flaps, four received lateral supragenicular perforaor perforator flaps, and five received medial genicular artery flaps. The age of the patients ranged from 44 to 79 and the size of the defects ranged from $4{\times}5cm$ to $17{\times}11cm$. Fifteen of the twenty patients had histories of total knee replacement (TKR) surgery. Results: There were no flap losses in any of the twenty patients assessed. Two patients showed partial losses in the distal area of the flap, but were treated through careful wound care. One patient presented with pedicle adhesion at the drainage site from a past TKR, but it did not hinder the flap survival. Primary closure at the donor site was possible in nine patients, while split skin graft was necessary for the other 13. Conclusion: In soft tissue reconstruction of the knee, various perforator flaps can be used depending on the condition of the preoperation scar, wound site, and size. It also proved to provide better functional and cosmetic results than in primary wound closure or skin grafts.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.93-99
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• 2007

Purpose: To report the clinical results and efficacies of one stage reverse lateral supramalleolar adipofascial flap for soft tissue reconstruction of the foot and ankle joint. Material and Methods: We performed 5 cases of one stage reverse lateral supramalleolar adipofascial flap from Jan 2005 to Sept 2005. All patients were males and mean age was 50(36~59) years old. The causes of soft tissue defects were 1 diabetic foot, 2 crushing injuries of the foot, 1 open fracture of the calcaneus, and 1 chronic osteomyelitis of the medial cuneiform bone. Average size of the flap was 3.6(3~4)${\times}$4.6(4~6) cm. All flaps were harvested as adipofascial flap and were performed with the split-thickness skin grafts (STSG) above the flaps simultaneously. Results: All flap survived completely and good taking of STSG on the flap was achieved in all cases. There were no venous congestion and marginal necrosis of the flap. In diabetic foot case, wound was healed at 4 weeks after surgery due to wound infection. There was no contracture on the grafted sites. Ankle and toe motion were not restricted at last follow up. All patients did not have difficulty in wearing shoes. Conclusion: The reverse lateral supramalleolar adipofascial flap and STSG offers a valuable option for repair of exposure of the tendon and bone around the ankle and foot. Also one stage procedure with STSG can give more advantages than second stage with FTSG, such as good and fast take-up, early ambulation and physical therapy, and good functional result.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.82-86
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• 2008

Purpose: Soft tissue defect can occur on the posterior aspect of the elbow after trauma or fracture fixation. To cover the defect and maintain elbow functions, various flap surgeries including latissimus dorsi muscle flap, lateral arm flap and radial forearm flap can be performed. We present the clinical results of transposition lateral arm flap for coverage of the elbow defect and discuss the cause of posterior soft tissue necrosis after fracture fixation. Materials and Methods: Two patients who had posterior soft tissue defect of the elbow after open reduction of the fractures around the elbow were treated with transposition lateral arm flap. The mean size of skin defect was 20 $cm^2$. The flap was elevated with posterior radial collateral artery pedicle and transposed to the defect area. Donor defect was covered with split thickness skin graft. The elbow was immobilized for 1 week in extended position and active range of motion was permitted. Results: All two cases of transposition lateral arm flap survived without marginal necrosis. The average range of motion of the elbow was 10~115 degrees. Mayo elbow performance score was 72 and Korean DASH score was 23. Conclusion: When elbow fractures are fixed with three simultaneous plates and screws, skin necrosis can occur on the posterior aspect of the elbow around olecranon area. If the size of skin defect is relatively small, transposition lateral arm flap is very useful option for orthopaedic surgeons without microsurgical technique.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.117-124
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• 2005

Purpose: To present our experience and design modification of an anterolateral thigh flap in soft tissue reconstruction. Materials and Methods: Between April of 2004 and May of 2005, 26 anterolateral thigh flaps were used in 26 patients. There were 22 males and 4 females between 23 and 60 years (mean, 40years). The mean follow-up period was 11($4{\sim}18$) months. All cases were a cutaneous flap. Twenty-two were musculocutaneous perforator flaps(85%) and 4 were septocutaneous perforator flaps(15%). Four flaps were used as a sensate flap. While the donor sites were closed directly in 14 cases(54%), 12 cases(46%) underwent skin grafting of the donor site. During the flap design, a triangular skin design was added to a vascular anastomosis site in 14(54%) patients and used as a roof of the tunnel. The healing period of the skin graft between those performed above the fascia and above the muscle were compared. Results: The average size of the flaps was $16{\times}9(11-20{\times}7-12)\;cm$. The overall flap success rate was 96%. Complications encountered were infection in 4 cases, and marginal skin necrosis in 1 case. The healing period was delayed with the infection in 3 of the 6 cases involving a skin graft over the fascia. All 14 cases with the triangular skin design survived, but there was 1 flap failure and 1 marginal necrosis in 12 cases without a triangular skin design. Conclusions: It may be better to undergo a skin graft above the muscle than above the fascia in covering a donor site defect, and to use a triangular skin design in order to prevent vascular insufficiency. An anterolateral thigh flap is a versatile flap for a soft tissue reconstruction because its thickness and volume can be adjusted to the extent of the defect with minimal donor site morbidity.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.360-366
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• 2012

Background Coverage of defects of the pretibial area remains a challenge for surgeons. The difficulty comes from the limited mobility and availability of the overlying skin and soft tissue. We applied variable pedicled perforator flaps to overcome the disadvantages of local flaps and free flaps on the pretibial area. Methods Eight patients who had the defects in the anterior tibial area were enrolled. Retrospective data were obtained on patient demographics, cause, defect location, defect size, flap dimension, originating artery, pedicle length, pedicle rotation, complication, and postoperative result. The raw surface created following the flap elevation was covered with a split thickness skin graft. Results Posterior tibial artery-based perforator flaps were used in five cases and peroneal artery-based perforator flaps in three cases. The mean age was 54.3 and the mean period of follow-up was 6 months. The average size of the flaps was 63.8 $cm^2$, with a range of 18 to 135 $cm^2$. There were no major complications. No patients had any newly developed functional deficit of the lower leg. Conclusions We suggest that pedicled perforator flaps can be an alternative treatment modality for covering pretibial defects as a simple, safe and versatile procedure.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.625-636
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• 2007

Marginal tissue recession makes problems like esthetics, root caries, hypersensitivity and plaque accumulation. Request for root coverage is higer than ever, especially esthetic problems involved. So techniques for root coverage hav been developed. There are some kinds of surgical techniques using soft tissue for root coverage. For example, free gingival graft, kinds of pedicle flap, subepithelial connective tissue graft(SCTG), and so on. Subepithelial connective tissue graft has many advantage for root coverage, that is less pain on donor site, good blood supply for graft, and more esthetic result. For this reaseon, this case report was performed to evaluate the effect of root coverage using subepithelial connective tissue graft. Three patients has Miller's class I marginal tissue recession and one patients has Miller's class III marginal tissue recession. The following period is 36.5 month on average. The results are as follows: 1. Root coverage of 100% was obtained in 5 of 6 defects, and 80% was obtained in 1 of 6 defects, The mean root coverage was 96,6% in six cases on 4 patients. 2. The mean root coverage was 3.83mm and mean recession depth decreased from 4mm to 0.16mm. 3. The mean width of clinical attached gingiva increased from 1.5mm to 4mm. The mean width of gained attached gingiva after surgery was 2.5mm. 4. The mean follow up period was 36.5 months. The longest follow up period was 50 months and the shortest follow up period was 22 months. 5. The result that obtained by surgery was stable during follow up period. Within the above results, root coverage with SCTG is an effective procedure to cover marginal tissue recession defect with long term stability.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.334-340
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• 2015

Background Full-thickness skin grafts (FTSGs) are generally considered unreliable for coverage of full-thickness finger defects with bone or tendon exposure, and there are few clinical reports of its use in this context. However, animal studies have shown that an FTSG can survive over an avascular area ranging up to 12 mm in diameter. In our experience, the width of the exposed bones or tendons in full-thickness finger defects is <7 mm. Therefore, we covered the bone- or tendon-exposed defects of 16 fingers of 10 patients with FTSGs. Methods The surgical objectives were healthy granulation tissue formation in the wound bed, marginal de-epithelization of the normal skin surrounding the defect, preservation of the subdermal plexus of the central graft, and partial excision of the dermis along the graft margin. The donor site was the mastoid for small defects and the groin for large defects. Results Most of the grafts (15 of 16 fingers) survived without significant surgical complications and achieved satisfactory functional and aesthetic results. Minor complications included partial graft loss in one patient, a minimal extension deformity in two patients, a depression deformity in one patient, and mild hyperpigmentation in four patients. Conclusions We observed excellent graft survival with this method with no additional surgical injury of the normal finger, satisfactory functional and aesthetic outcomes, and no need for secondary debulking procedures. Potential disadvantages include an insufficient volume of soft tissue and graft hyperpigmentation. Therefore, FTSGs may be an option for treatment of full-thickness finger defects with bone or tendon exposure.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.71-78
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• 2007

The nasolabial flap has been used for reconstruction of moderate size intraoral defects. The nasolabial fold area provides an ample supply of tissue with a good color and texture match. The nasolabial flap classified advancement flap, inferiorly-based flap, superiorly-based flap. The flap is based inferiorly, so that it can easily be rotated to the intraoral defects. The nasolabial flap is chosen for the repair of various intraoral defects because of its simple elevation, proximity to the defect and its rich subcutaneous blood supply of a island flap. The subjects were 6 patients with nasolabial flap, who had reconstruction of moderate size intraoral defects. We have found the inferiorly-based nasolabial flap with a subcutaneous pedicle useful in the primary repair of surgical defects of the buccal mucosa, edentulous mandibular ridge, maxillary alveolus area and soft palate in these patients. There was no complication except one case. Intraoral hair growth was a minor problem of this patient. We thought that the inferiorly-based nasolabial flap is a useful technique for reconstruction of various intraoral defects.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.51-56
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• 2011

During below knee amputation, the amputation stump must be covered with well-vascularized and sensate soft tissue. Many flaps can be used for this purpose, but available reconstructive options are limited. We performed reverse flow ALT flap elevation on two patients with below knee amputations to reconstruct defects in the stumps. The sizes of the defects in the stumps were $4{\times}16$ cm and $5{\times}5$ cm, respectively. The most distal portion of the defects were located 20 cm and 16 cm lateral to the knee joint in a curve, respectively. The size of the elevated flap was $5{\times}18$ cm for case 1 and $18{\times}10$ cm for case 2. The respective pivot points of the pedicles were 7 cm and 6 cm above the patella and the respective lengths of the pedicles were 17 cm and 16 cm. In both cases, venous congestion occurred on the second postoperative day and the flap distal to 10 cm or more from below the knee joint was necrotized at the second postoperative week. Surgeons should be cautious when using a reverse ALT flap to reconstruct a soft tissue defect located 10 cm or more distal from below the knee joint. Since a pedicle longer than 15 cm may develop partial necrosis of the flap, simultaneous application of antegrade venous drainage is recommended.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.40-48
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• 2017

Purpose: Soft tissue reconstruction of a defect around the foot and ankle is a particularly challenging procedure due to the anatomical and functional characteristics of this area. Hence, only a limited number of treatment options are available. Moreover, if patients wish to avoid additional scars on the ipsilateral lower leg for cosmetic reasons, even fewer options are available for treatment. The authors used an anterolateral thigh perforator flap for soft tissue defects in this area, when other surgical options were inadequate. The aim of this study was to report the clinical results and the efficacy of this procedure. Materials and Methods: Sixteen cases of soft tissue defects around the foot and ankle were included. Participants included 12 male and 4 female subjects, and the mean age was 34 years. The most common cause of defect was acute trauma, and the average follow-up period was 33 months. Flap survival time, surgical complications, and ambulation status at the final follow-up stage were evaluated. Results: All 16 flaps successfully survived, except for one case with partial flap necrosis that was thought to be due to weight bearing earlier than scheduled. All patients were able to walk independently without any aid at the final follow-up stage. No patients showed other significant surgical complications. Conclusion: The anterolateral thigh perforator flap is a good alternative for soft tissue defects of the foot and ankle, when other options are not applicable. This study also demonstrated that surgery using an anterolateral thigh perforator flap is safe and highly reliable.