RESUMEN
Objective:To explore the clinical application of three-dimensional CT angiography (3D-CTA) in repair of limb wounds with free lateral thoracic perforator flaps.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 61 patients with limb soft tissue defects who had been treated at The Third Department of Orthopedics, Xingtai General Hospital of North China Medical and Health Group from January 2018 to September 2022. There were 37 males and 24 females with an age of (43.9±12.0) years. Thirty-three left and 28 right sides were injured. Soft tissue defects ranged from 4.0 cm × 3.0 cm to 17.0 cm × 8.0 cm, and flap areas from 5.0 cm × 4.0 cm to 18.0 cm × 9.0 cm. The patients were divided into 2 groups according to the different preoperative vascular exploration methods: an ultrasound group of 30 cases subjected to ultrasound Doppler examination and a 3D-CTA group of 31 cases subjected to 3D-CTA examination. The preoperative findings were compared with those of intraoperative exploration in the 2 groups. The operation time, flap survival rate, patient satisfaction with trauma repair, sensory recovery of the flap area, and the excellent and good rate of the donor area were also compared between the 2 groups.Results:The differences in preoperative general data between the 2 groups were not statistically significant, indicating the 2 groups were comparable ( P>0.05). In the ultrasound group, the inraoperative classification of the lateral thoracic perforator flaps showed a low concordance with preoperative classification (Kappa coefficient of 0.104, P=0.088). In the 3D-CTA group, the classification of lateral thoracic perforator flaps was consistent with the preoperative 3D-CTA examination (Kappa coefficient of 1.00, P<0.001). The preoperative measurements in the 3D-CTA group found that the diameter at the origin of the lateral thoracic artery was (1.2±0.3) mm, the vascular pedicle length (8.1±2.1) cm, and the diameter at the perforator exit (0.6±0.2) mm; the preoperative surface positioning at the perforator exit found that the perforator exit was (1.6±0.3) cm above the horizontal line of the subscapular angle and (5.3±1.4) cm outside the vertical line of the subscapular angle. These measurements were similar to the intraoperative ones [(1.1±0.3) mm, (8.3±2.4) cm, (0.7±0.2) mm, (1.5±0.4) cm, and (5.2±1.5) cm], showing no significant differences ( P>0.05). In contrast, the preoperative measurements of the above indexes in the ultrasound group did not coincide with the actual intraoperative measurements, and the differences were all statistically significant ( P<0.05). The operation time, flap survival rate, rate of patient satisfaction with wound repair, rate of sensory recovery in the flap area, and the excellence and good rate of the donor area in the 3D-CTA group were (52.9±16.7) min, 100.0% (31/31), 96.8% (30/31), 83.9% (26/31), and 87.1% (27/31), respectively, which were significantly better than those in the ultrasound group [(76.3±21.4) min, 86.7% (26/30), 76.7% (23/30), 60.0% (18/30), 63.3% (20/30)] ( P<0.05). Conclusions:As preoperative 3D-CTA examination can clarify the types and anatomical characteristics of the lateral thoracic artery and its perforators, it helps the design and harvest of the lateral thoracic perforator flaps. Compared with the ultrasound Doppler examination, preoperative 3D-CTA examination shortens operation time, raises survival rate of the flaps, and facilitates recovery of the appearance and function of the limb wounds, and leads to little impact on the donor site.