Extracorporeal Pedicles for Free Flap Reconstruction in Diabetic Lower Extremity Wounds.

Diabetic foot ulcers are a severe complication of diabetes, and their management requires a multidisciplinary approach for optimal management. When treating these ulcers, limb salvage remains the ultimate goal. In this article, we present the "hanging" free flap for the reconstruction of chronic lower extremity diabetic ulcers. This two-staged approach involves standard free flap harvest and inset; however, following inset the "hanging" pedicle is covered within a skin graft instead of making extraneous incisions within the undisturbed soft tissues or tunnels that can compress the vessels. After incorporation, a second-stage surgery is performed in 4 to 6 weeks which entails pedicle division, flap inset revision, and end-to-end reconstruction of the recipient vessel. Besides decreasing the number of incisions on diabetic patients, our novel technique utilizing the "hanging" pedicle simplifies flap monitoring and inset and allows reconstruction of recipient vessels to reestablish distal blood flow.

The First Dorsal Metacarpal Artery Perforator Free Flap: The Comet Flap.

BACKGROUND: Distal extremity defects pose a particular challenge to the reconstructive surgeon; however, advances in perforator flaps have expanded the potential reconstructive options. In this article, the authors present their experience in reconstructing distal extremity defects using a thin, cutaneous free flap based on the perforator of the first dorsal metacarpal artery: the comet flap. METHODS: A retrospective review was performed on all patients who presented with a distal extremity defect and underwent reconstruction using a comet flap between 2015 and 2019. Patient demographics, flap anatomy and harvest, and postoperative course were reviewed and analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 16 patients were included. The mean patient age was 36.5 years. Trauma was the most common cause. The average defect size was 5.4 × 3.2 cm. The average pedicle length of the comet flap ranged from 3.5 to 30 cm, depending on involvement of the radial vessels. All donor sites underwent uncomplicated closure with local rhomboid flaps. One flap was complicated by an acute venous thrombosis that was successfully treated operatively. The flap survival rate was 95 percent. All patients were able to maintain their preoperative range of motion and were satisfied with their final outcome. Follow-up time ranged from 6 to 50 months. CONCLUSIONS: Local flaps remain an important reconstructive approach for distal extremity defects; however, in complex soft-tissue injuries, free tissue transfers become necessary. The comet flap is a safe, versatile, and reliable flap for reconstructing upper and lower extremity defects that can be performed in a single procedure under regional anesthesia. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, IV.

The Boomerang Thigh Flap: Optimizing the Donor Site for an Extended Skin Island Flap.

BACKGROUND: The anterolateral region of the thigh is one of the most used donor areas for flaps. However, there are cases in which large defects require more than the conventional skin island provided by the anterolateral thigh flap (ALT). For an extended skin island flap, we developed a new boomerang thigh flap (BTF), in which a boomerang design includes perforators from multiple branches of the lateral circumflex femoral artery (LCFA), providing a single-pedicle, large, reproducible, and reliable flap. We report the anatomical study and the use of the new BTF in a clinical series. METHODS: We dissected 20 flaps in fresh cadavers to determine the anatomical landmarks, vascular pedicle pattern, perforator distribution, and BTF flap dissection technique. After achieving a reproducible and reliable technique, with primary closure of the donor site based on the pinch test, the BTF was applied for microsurgical reconstructions in the head and neck, lower limb, and upper limb regions. RESULTS: The BTF corresponds to a 45° confluence of the ALT and the tensor fascia lata (TFL) elliptical skin islands. It includes the perforators from the transverse/ascending and the descending branches of the LCFA , which conjoined into a single arterial LCFA pedicle in 85% (17) of the cadaver dissections. All the venous branches drained into a single lateral circumflex femoral vein. ALT perforator distribution followed literature descriptions, while TFL perforators were mainly septocutaneous and projected into a virtual rectangle of 6 × 4 cm at the lateral margin of the TFL. Average BTF dimensions were 40 × 8.6 cm. For the clinical cases, flap dimensions and pedicle characteristics were equivalent to the anatomical findings. The BTF was separated into two skin islands in four cases and no major complications were reported. CONCLUSION: The BTF is a reliable, reproducible, and divisible flap that provides extended skin island for reconstruction of large defects.