[Surgical technique and advantages of the free temporal fascia flap for covering loss of substance of the dorsum of the foot and around the ankle: report of 12 cases].

The authors report a series of twelve patients with loss of substance of the dorsum of the foot or around the ankle who underwent coverage with a free temporal fascia flap. There were no failure of flaps and no vascular complication at the microanastomosis. There were three complications: partial burn of the flap with a lamp, failure of the split thickness skin graft and an area of scar alopecia at the donor site. With one year of follow up, there were no problems of cicatrisation and no patients had difficulty to the use of normal footwear. The different advantages of this flap led us to recommend it for the covering of wound in this area.