DISTALLY BASED ANTEROLATERAL THIGH FLAP FOR KNEE DEFECT- A CASE REPORT

Defects over the anterior aspect of knee joint are usually covered by medial gastrocnemius myocutaneous flap , vastus medialis muscle flap or free flap. We are presenting a pedicled distally based Anterolateral Thigh flap used for covering a defect over the anterior aspect of the knee joint. The flap is based on the perforator from superior lateral genicular artery anastomosing with the descending branch of the lateral circumflex femoral artery. It is harvested from the proximally based anterolateral thigh flap territory from the anterior and lateral aspect of the thigh.In our case, the defect was over the whole of the anterior aspect of the right knee joint with fracture but intact patella and exposing the implants used for patella fracture fixation. It was a single stage procedure. Patient had comfortable postoperative period, flap healed well and donor site was acceptable. Pedicled distally based islanded anterolateral thigh flap is a reliable ,fasciocutaneous flap for covering the defect over anterior knee joint region.