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Objective:To investigate the clinical effect of a 3D reconstruction assisted preoperative optimal design of anterolateral abdomen cross-region free perforator flaps for repair of soft tissue defects of limbs.Methods:Twenty patients who were treated for soft tissue defects of hand, forearm, foot and ankle in the Department of Hand Surgery, the Sixth Hospital of Ningbo from October 2017 to January 2020 were included in this study. Among the patients,17 had soft tissue defects in hand and forearm and 3 with composite tissue defects including ankle and soft tissue defect of foot. The sizes of soft tissue defects in limbs ranged from 6 cm × 8 cm - 36 cm × 18 cm. Twenty free cross-area perforator flaps were optimal designed with CTA and 3D assisted reconstruction before surgery. Following combinations of flaps were designed: (1) Free perforator flap with inferior abdominal artery and superior abdominal artery; (2) Free perforator flap with superficial iliac circumflex artery and deep iliac circumflex artery; (3) Free perforator flap with superficial iliac circumflex artery and inferior abdominal wall perforator artery; (4) Free perforator flap with perforators of superficial iliac circumflex artery plus superficial abdominal artery; (5) Free perforator flap with perforating artery of lower abdominal wall and superficial artery of abdominal wall. The overall nutritional area of a combined flap were 272.3 cm 2± 12.5 cm 2, 107.4 cm 2± 9.3 cm 2, 193.6 cm 2± 24.2 cm 2, 155.2 cm 2± 20.1 cm 2 and 203.7 cm 2± 16.3 cm 2, respectively. All the donor sites were sutured directly in one stage. The appearance, texture, blood supply, colour, joint movement of affected limbs, recovery and function of donor sites were observed through postoperative follow-up visits at the outpatient clinic. Results:Among the 20 anterolateral transventral perforator flaps, 18 flaps survived successfully; One had partial necrosis after surgery, and healed after dressing change. Subcutaneous haematoma occurred in 1 flap, and survived after drainage. In this study, there was no postoperative infection of flap. A total of 19 flaps healed in one stage, except 1 that had a delayed healing and the flap wound was closed after dressing change for 1 week. According to Disability of Arm, Shouder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire evaluation, which is widely used in the world to evaluate the therapeutic effect after limb injury, combined with the 6-12 months of follow-up, the functional recovery of 17 patients with upper limbs iniury was 7 in excellent, 9 in good and 1 in poor. The overall excellent and good rate achieved 94.1%. All the 3 patients with foot injury recovered well, and the walking and jumping were not significantly affected. The results were all excellent according to the Maryland Foot Function Scoring. Sensation of flaps was evaluated according to the British Sensory Function Evaluation, it showed: 3 in S 2, 15 in S 3 and 2 in S 3+. All 20 flaps had good blood supply, in soft texture, good colour, feeling, thickness and movement. The donor sites all healed well. Conclusion:Combined with an optimal preoperative design, the perforator flap of anterior lateral wall cross-region can obtain a satisfactory clinical efficacy in repair of large area soft tissue defects. It is a feasible treatment method.
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A patient who suffered with degloving and destructive servered distal segment of the left thumb was referred to the Department of Hand Surgery, Ningbo No.6 Hospital in May 2021. The thumb was reconstructed by transfer and splicing of a free bilateral fibular hallux nail flap. Metatarsal artery of the metatarsal fibular side of the flap was anastomosed to the proper palmar digital artery at the recipient site. The nerve meridian were anastomosed to the proper palmar digital nerve of thumb, and the distal arterial arch of the metatarsal base between the flaps was anastomosed at the same time. A V-Y advancement flap was employed to repair the donor site. After 3 months, the transferred flaps survived well, the left thumb nail grew well, and the dynamic TPD was at 7 mm. According to the Evaluation Standard of Thumb and Finger Reconstruction Function of the Society of Hand Surgery of the Chinese Medical Association, it was evaluated as excellent (14 points). The advancement flap in the donor site survived well, and the walking, running and jumping of both feet were not affected. According to Maryland's foot function scoring standard, it was evaluated as excellent (98 points).
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Objective:To investigate the clinical effect of free superficial iliac circumflex artery perforator flap with different arterial anastomosis methods for repairing soft tissue defects of limbs.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was used to analyze the data of 60 patients with soft tissue defects of limbs treated in Ningbo No.6 Hospital from March 2017 to March 2020, including 38 males and 22 females, aged 21-57 years［(35.6±3.1)years］. The wounds were located on the upper limb in 33 patients and the lower limb wound in 27 patients. The defect area was 4.5 cm × 2.0 cm-17.0 cm × 8.0 cm. All patients received debridement and vacuum sealing drainage (VSD) in stage I, and free superficial iliac circumflex artery perforator flap transplantation in stage II. The flap area was 4.9 cm × 2.6 cm-17.0 cm × 8.0 cm. According to the different anastomotic vessels, the superficial iliac circumflex artery was anastomosed end-to- side to the radial artery in 25 patients, the ulnar artery in 8, the dorsalis pedis artery in 18 and the anterior tibial artery in 9. Flap healing and healing time were detected. Texture and appearance of the flap were observed at the last follow-up. The appearance of the donor area was evaluated by Vancouver scar scale (VSS), and the satisfaction rate of appearance of the recipient area was measured by numerical score.Results:All patients were followed up for 5-15 months［(7.1±1.3)points］. All flaps survived successfully after operation, including arterial crisis in 4 patients, among which 2 had flap perforator anastomosed with the radial artery, 1 with the ulnar artery and 1 with the dorsalis pedis artery. There was no significant difference in flap crisis after end-to-side arterial anastomosis in different recipient areas ( P>0.05). For patients with flap perforator anastomosed with the radial artery, the ulnar artery, the dorsalis pedis artery and the anterior tibial artery, the flap healing time was 15(14, 16)days, 15(14, 16)days, 14.5(14，16)days and 14(14，15.5)days, respectively (all P>0.05). The flaps showed sufficient elasticity and soft texture at the last follow-up. For patients with flap perforator anastomosed with the radial artery, the ulnar artery, the dorsalis pedis artery and the anterior tibial artery, the VSS of the donor area was (10.2±1.5)points, (10.9±1.6)points, (9.4±1.5)points and (9.8±1.5)points at the last follow-up (all P>0.05), and the satisfaction rate of appearance of the recipient area was 9 (8, 10)points, 9(8, 9)points, 9(8, 9)points and 8(8, 9.5)points at the last follow-up ( P>0.05), showing that all patients were satisfied with the appearance of the wound. Conclusions:The transplantation of free superficial iliac circumflex artery perforator flap with different arterial anastomosis methods is safe and reliable in repairing soft tissue defects of limbs with advantages of low occurrence of postoperative vascular crisis, good flap survival, no influence on flap healing by different anastomotic vessels, hidden donor area with small scar and satisfactory appearance of the recipient area. It can be used as one of the common vascular repair methods for free tissue flap transplantation.
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Objective:To investigate the clinical effect of the anterolateral femoral perforator flap（ALTP）pedicled with the oblique branch of lateral circumflex femoral artery（LCFA）assisted by CT angiography（CTA）examination for repairing soft tissue defects of limbs.Methods:A retrospective case series study was made on 51 patients with soft tissue defects of limbs treated in Ningbo No.6 Hospital from March 2015 to March 2020，including 31 males and 20 females at age of 26-63 years［（42.0±8.9）years］. The defects were located at the forearm in 15 patients，at the hand in 13，at the lower leg in 15 and at the ankle in 8. The size of defects ranged from 9 cm×6 cm to 18 cm×10 cm，with the size of flaps from 10 cm×6 cm to 20 cm×12 cm. A total of 33 patients were examined with CTA scanning and Doppler ultrasound（CTA group）and 18 patients with Doppler ultrasound（Doppler group）. All patients underwent debridement and negative pressure closed drainage（VSD）at stage I and were repaired by ALTP pedicled with the oblique branch of LCFA at stage II. The diameter and length of the vessel pedicle was recorded in CTA group before operationand in both groups during operation. The time of flap harvesting in both groups was recorded during operation. The survival of the flap in both groups was observed one week after operation. Zhang Hao's scoring standard was applied to evaluate the outcome at the last follow-up.Results:All patients were followed up for 6-12 months［（9.1±1.5）months］. In CTA group，the diameter of LCFA vessel pedicle measured before operation had no significant difference from that during operation（ P>0.05），while the length of LCFA vessel pedicle before operation［（12.3±2.1）cm］was longer than（10.9±2.2）cm during operation（ P<0.05）. The two group showed no significant differences in the diameter and length of LCFA vessel pedicle during operation（ P>0.05）. The time of flap harvesting in CTA group was（38.5±6.2）minutes，significantly shorter than（51.4±8.4）minutes in Doppler group（ P<0.05）. One week after operation，all flaps survived. Two patients developed flap arterial congestion in CTA group，among whom one survived after surgical revision and one with partially necrosis was healed after dressing change. One patient was found with flap arterial congestion with partial necrosis in Doppler group，who was healed after dressing change. There was no significant difference in postoperative flap arterial congestion between the two groups（ P>0.05）. The patients' satisfaction score in CTA group was（8.5±1.5）points at the last follow-up，higher than（7.4±2.0）points in Doppler group（ P<0.05）. Conclusion:For repairing soft tissue defects of limbs，free ALTP pedicled with the oblique branch of LCFA assisted by three- dimensional CT angiography can accurately get the information of perforator，shorten the flap harvesting time，and obtain satisfactory clinical results as compared to Doppler ultrasound.
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Objective To study the surgical techniques and the clinical curative ettect of the reconstruction of adjacent large finger pulps with the modified sensate free proximal ulnar artery perforator flap.Methods From February,2013 to May,2016,20 fingers in 10 patients with adjacent large finger pulp defects crossing the DIP joint were reconstructed by the modified senate free proximal ulnar artery perforator flap.All the pulps of every patient were recovered by 1 flap in the first stage and the artificial syndactyly of two digits was divided in 7 weeks after the flap transfer in the second stage.In order to reconstruct the sensation of two pulps in each patient,firstly both of the proximal and distal ends of the cutaneous nerve in flaps were dissected and anastomosed with the most lateral and medial palmar digital nerves of two adjacent fingers respectively,which were divided into 2 groups.Secondly the cutaneous nerve in the middle part of flap was cut and the two ends were anastomosed with the other two palmar digital nerves in the second surgery.There were 8 fingers in 4 patients with the index and middle finger pulp defects,12 fingers in 6 patients with the middle and ring finger defects.The flap size was from 5.0 cm×3.5 cm to 5.5 cm×4.0 cm,and the perforator artery was anastomosed with the palmar digital artery in 6 cases and with the joint branch of digital artery in 4 cases.Results Nine flaps survived uneventfully except the venous congestion was found in 1 flap which was salvaged successfully by acupuncture bleeding.Also,no congestion or ischemia of all the 20 pulp flaps occurred right after releasing the artificial syndactyly.The time of followed-up was from 11 months to 32 months with the average of 17 months after the second surgery.The static two point discrimination of the 2 groups of the sensate pulp flap was (7.3 ± 1.2) mm and (8.6 ±2.4) mm respectively.There was no significant difference between groups (P ＞ 0.05).These 20 pulp flaps were also assessed by the Semmes-Weinstein monofilament test with the result of diminished light touch in 14 pulps and diminished protective touch in 6 pulps.The total active motion in all 20 fingers was (248.0±4.5) °.No patients suffered cold intolerance and local pain but 1 had hypersensitiveness in the pulp flap.Conclusion The modified sensate free proximal ulnar arte~ perforator flap is a practical alternative for the reconstruction of two large adjacent pulps with satisfactory functional and aesthetic outcomes.