The combined tensor fasciae latae/rectus femoris musculocutaneous flap: a possibility for major soft tissue reconstruction in the groin, hip, gluteal, perineal, and lower abdominal regions.

A 57-year-old man, with a long-lasting multiple hereditary cartilaginous exostoses, presented with a progressive tumor growth in the left iliac wing and in the gluteus maximus muscle. An open biopsy revealed a secondary chondrosarcoma, which had developed from an osteochondroma. A wide surgical resection, sparing the inferior limb, was the option for treatment. The fairly constant and reliable vascular anatomy of the lateral circumflex femoral artery, as confirmed by 27 previous anatomical dissections, gave us the opportunity to repair the wide postoperative defect by means of a single, very large flap, combining the vascular territories of the tensor fasciae latae and rectus femoris musculocutaneous flaps. The postoperative period was uneventful, and 1 year after surgery the man had no sign of local recurrence or metastases, and the flap was fully viable without sign of local complication. A functional evaluation was performed on a Kin-Com II dynamometer, showing major impairment of the limb that had undergone surgery. Despite the severe functional disturbance, the man prefers the impaired status to an amputation after a hemipelvectomy.