ABSTRACT
Objective@#To investigate the feasibility and efficacy of free lobulated lateral circumflex femoral artery perforator flap for foot and ankle defect at non-weight bearing area.@*Methods@#From January 2008 to June 2016, 28 cases with foot and ankle skin and soft tissue defects at non-weight bearing area were treated, including 16 cases with traffic accident, 8 cases with machine injury, and 4 cases with falling injury. There were 10 cases with Achilles tendon exposure, 16 cases with dorsalis pedis tendons exposure and 12 cases with bone exposure. The defect size ranged from 10 cm×8 cm to 16 cm×13 cm. Doppler ultrasound detector was used to select two perforators of lateral femoral circumflex artery. The lobulated perforator flap was designed and harvested as one flap. After clip test was performed to make sure the blood supply of flap, the flap was segmented and repositioned to cover the wound. The width of lobulated flaps was less than 8cm, in order to close the defect at donor sites directly. Postoperative rountine anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant, anticonvulsive treatment and function exercise were adopted. The patients were followed up for 6-28 months.@*Results@#The flap size ranged from 9.0 cm×4.5 cm to 17.0 cm×7.0 cm. Partial necrosis happened at the end of one flap lobe due to pressure, which healed after dressing. All the other 27 flaps survived completely with satisfactory cosmetic and functional result. The wounds at donor sites all healed primarily.@*Conclusions@#Free lobulated lateral circumflex femoral artery perforator flap is one of the ideal flaps with high survival rate and low complication for foot and ankle defect at non-weight bearing area.