A Prospective Comparative Study between Peroneus Brevis Muscle Flap and Reverse Sural Arteryflap for Coverage of Defects around the Heel

Background: Its very challenging to reconstruct post-traumatic soft tissue defects around the lower third of the leg, ankle and foot. Reverse sural flaps have been widely used for this problem with reasonable success. Methods: A prospective study on 52 patients admitted with soft tissue defects around the Heel at Government Rajaji Medical College Hospital, Madurai, in the Dept. of Plastic surgery from september 2018 to June 2021 was done. Posttraumatic moderate size defects around the Heel requiring flap cover for bone, tendon & implant exposed were included in the study. Results: Twenty Six patients underwent DPBF (distal peroneal brevis flap) and twenty six RSAF (reverse sural artery flap). Mean age of patients of DPBF?s was 36 years (range 16 -63). Trauma was the most common cause 45 were male patients, 7 were female patients. Both groups had good results with varying factors influencing the outcome. Conclusion: RSAF AND DPBF are reliable for moderate size defects around the heel. Both flaps gave a good functional outcome. DPBF is better for aesthetic, short duration of hospital stay and small sized soft tissue defects compared to RSAF.