Unusual case of a free anterolateral thigh flap partial necrosis in a COVID-19 positive young male following extremity reconstruction / 中华创伤杂志(英文版)

Free flap procedure provides an overall success rate of 97%, which decreases to 85% in hypercoagulable states. COVID-19, as a pro-thrombotic disorder, therefore seems detrimental to free flap survival. We encountered a case of unique pattern of free flap partial failure in a young male who underwent extremity reconstruction. The patient was diagnosed as COVID-19 positive on the 3rd day post-reconstruction. The flap survived well for the first 7 days post-operatively, but gradually the skin got necrosed and the subcutaneous fat layer was preserved when debriding. To our knowledge, this is the only case in which the skin of the free flap of a COVID-19 positive patient was necrosed almost entirely subsequently, while the subcutaneous fat was relatively preserved.

Comparison of the Flap Complication Rate Between Microkeratomes for LASIK

PURPOSE: To compare intraoperative and postoperative flap complication rate between the Hansatome Excellus and Zyoptix XP microkeratomes for LASIK surgery. METHODS: The intra- and post-operative flap complication rate, in 323 eyes of 167 patients operated on using the Hansatome microkeratome were compared with 260 eyes of 132 patients that were operated on using the Zyoptix XP microkeratome. RESULTS: The Hansatome group showed an intraoperative complication incidence of 2.7% compared to 0.4% for the Zyoptix XP group (p0.05). There was no incidence of visually significant complications in either group. CONCLUSIONS: The Zyoptix XP showed a significantly decreased intraoperative flap complication rate compared to the Hansatome Excellus microkeratome. The preoperative K value is an important factor for safe LASIK.