Reverse Sural Fascio Cutaneous Flap for Soft Tissue Coverage around Foot and Ankle

BACKGROUND Reconstruction of lower leg and foot wounds continues to be one of the most challenging tasks, as options are limited and poor blood supply. The introduction of distally based sural fascio cutaneous flap provides reliable and effective method to cover skin defects around foot and ankle. STUDY DESIGN Case series Fascio cutaneous flap, Foot and ankle, Reverse sural artery, Reverse sural flap, Sural nerve METHODOLOGY Descriptive case series study was conducted at the Department of Orthopaedics, Government General Hospital, Guntur over a period of one year. We report case series of eleven patients with defects around foot and ankle secondary to trauma, infection and old crush injuries. All of them were treated surgically with reverse sural fascio cutaneous flaps. RESULTS Eleven patients aged between Thirty years to fourty eight years were included in this study with mean age of 39.5. Among them Ten were male and One female. Indication of Fascio Cutaneous Flap was wound secondary to trauma (four cases), infected achilles tendon repair (two cases), old crush injury of foot (five cases). Three Patients developed superficial infection and One patient suffered partial soft tissue necrosis. we had excellent result with this procedure and the results were encouraging. CONCLUSION Distally based sural fasciocutaneous flap surgery performed properly is reliable for coverage of soft tissue around foot and ankle. The technical advantages being easy dissection without operating microscope, preservation of more important vascular structures, complete coverage, single stage procedure. Disadvantages include learning curve and cosmetic appearance.