Versatility of the sural fasciocutaneous flap in coverage defects of the lower limb.

We present in this work, our experience with the sural fasciocutaneous flap to treat coverage defects following a lower limb posttraumatic lesion. This paper is a review of these flaps carried out in different centres between 2000 and 2005. The series consists of 14 patients, 12 men and 2 women with an average age of 38 years (23-54) and with a medium follow-up time of 2 years (12-48 months). In all of the cases, aetiology was a lower limb injury or its complications, most frequently a distal tibial fracture (eight patients), followed by sequelae from Achilles tendon reconstruction (two patients), fracture of the calcaneus (two patients) and osteomyelitis of the distal tibia secondary to an open fracture (two patients). Associated risk factors in the patients for performing the flap were diabetes (one case) and cigarette smoking (four cases). The technique is based on the use of a reverse-flow island sural flap with the superficial sural artery dependent on perforators of the peroneal arterial system. The anatomical structures which constitute the pedicle are the superficial and deep fascia, the sural nerve, short saphenous vein, superficial sural artery together with an islet of subcutaneous cellular tissue and skin. The flap was viable in 13 of 14 patients. Only one flap failed in, a diabetic patient. No patient showed signs of infection. Slight venous congestion of the flap occurred in two cases. No further surgical intervention of the donor site was required. In two cases partial necrosis of the skin edges occurred which resolved satisfactorily with conservative treatment. The sural fasciocutaneous flap is useful for the treatment of complex injuries of the lower limbs and their complications. Its technical advantages are: easy dissection with preservation of more important vascular structures in the limb, complete coverage of the soft tissue defect in just one operation without the need of microsurgical anastomosis. All this results in a well vascularised cutaneous islet and thus a reliable flap.