Development and validation of a grading system for necrosis of pedicled flaps in reconstruction of foot and ankle / 中华显微外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To develop a grading system for necrosis of pedicled flaps in reconstruction of foot and ankle, and to verify its effectiveness and repeatability.Methods:A retrospective observational study was conducted. A total of 40 necroses of foot and ankle pedicled flaps were selected by 2 senior surgeons based on the flap surgery performed by the same surgical group in Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, the 920 Hospital of Joint Logistic Support Force of PLA from January 2010 to January 2022. A grading system for pedicled flap necrosis was proposed by a working group and the 40 necrotic flaps were graded. The coincidence rate was calculated to evaluate the effectiveness of the grading system through correlation studies between grading and clinical treatment. One photo of a typical postoperative necrotic flap was collected from each of the 40 flaps. Then 5 extramural surgeons were asked to grade the necroses shown on the photos according to the proposed grading system. Moreover, weighted Kappa analysis was performed on the results of proposed grading system and also on the standard grading currently in use, to evaluate the repeatability of the proposed grading system. Evaluated data were expressed by Mean±SD, and the coincidence rate was expressed by percentage. The reproducibility was studied by weighted Kappa analysis.Results:Of the 40 necrotic flaps, 7 flaps were classified in Grade I, 16 in Grade Ⅱ, 12 in Grade Ⅲ and 5 in Grade IV. In comparison with the actual treatment methods, the overall coincidence rate of the grading system was 92.5%. It indicated that the proposed grading system could effectively guide the selection of a treatment procedure. The average weighted Kappa coefficient of surgeons was at 0.628 with a 95% confidence interval (95%CI) between 0.460-0.796, which was strongly consistent with the standard of the grading system currently in use.Conclusion:The grading system for necrosis of pedicled flap in reconstruction of foot and ankle proposed in this study is simple and clear. It is able to effectively guide the treatment of flap necrosis. The preliminary validation shows that the classification system has good repeatability.