Clinical applications of gluteal fasciocutaneous v-y advancement flap for sacral sore

ABSTRACT

For treatment of the pressure sore, varieties of methods have been developed such as skin graftings, local flap, myocutaneous or fasciocutaneous flap, etc.. Except mild cases, myocutaneous flaps have been used commonly for the best coverage and padding of the wound. But the gluteus maximus muscle is not an expendable muscle, so the myocutaneous flaps using gluteus maximus muscle result in significant functional loss in ambulatory patients. Various methods as fasciocutaneous flap to reserve a function of the gluteus maximus muscle have been developed. We especially designed a bilateral fasciocutaneous flap in the fashion of interdigitating extended V-Y advancement in sacral sore when the defect is fusiform transversely in shape. With this design, we obtained reduced tension in the midline suture with less dissection in medial portion of the fasciocutaneous flap and made the flap more rleliable by including more parasacral perforators within the flap. We have experienced the eight cases of gluteal fasciocutaneous V-Y advancement flap and obtained the excellent results without flap necrosis. We conclude that a bilateral fasciocutaneous flap in the fashion of interdigitating extended V-Y advancement is useful in sacral sore when the defect is fusiform transversely in shape.