Vein graft bridged free flap for lower extremity trauma reconstruction / 中华整形外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To investigate the efficacy and the technical details of utilizing a long segment of vein graft to bridge the vascular defect when a free flap is used to repair extensive injuries in lower extremities.@*Methods@#For the reconstruction of extensive leg defect caused by serious composite injury, a local flap is unavailable or cannot fulfill the requirements. The main vessels of the leg could be damaged. It is challenging work to find an ideal recipient vessels for a free flap. The saphenous vein was harvested from the contralateral lower extremities and utilized to bridge the vascular gap between the recipient vessels and flap pedicle vessels. A latissimus dorsi myocutaneous or anterolateral thigh free flap was used to reconstruct the leg defect. The distal end of the grafted vein was anastomosed to the superficial femoral artery in an end-to-side fashion, and the proximal end to the artery of flap pedicle in an end-to-end fashion. When a vein insufficiency was present, the proximal and distal ends of the additional grafted vein were anastomosed to the recipient vein and vein of flap pedicle in an end-to-end fashion.@*Results@#From July 2010 to April 2019, 27 patients underwent reconstruction of leg using the above-mentioned method. There were 20 males and 7 females. The patients′ age ranged from 16 to 54 years with an average of 30.6 years. There were 19 latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flaps and eight anterolateral thigh flaps. The grafted saphenous vein was used to bridge the arterial gap in 21 cases and to bridge both the arterial and venous gaps in 6 cases. The length of the grafted vein for arterial and venous defects was ranged from 14 cm to 43 cm (mean, 24.8 cm) and 5 cm to 12 cm (mean, 8.6 cm), respectively. 26 flaps completely survived after surgery. Venous congestion occurred in the remaining one flap and the flap eventually lost. The patient eventually opted for amputation. All patients were followed up for 3 to 14 months with an average of 9 months. Functional and aesthetic outcomes were obtained in both the recipient and donor sites. No obvious edema of lower extremities was observed.@*Conclusions@#For patients with a severe and large soft-tissue defect of the leg, fining an ideal recipient vessels for a free flap is crucial for a successful reconstructive surgery. It is a reliable and an additional option to choose the superficial femoral artery and/ or saphenous vein as the recipient vessels by using the grafted vein to bridge the vascular gaps.