Emergency surgical repair of extensive soft‐tissue defects in upper limb of a child, using flap graft

Extensive soft‐tissue defects in the upper limb of a child are rare, and emergency surgical repair presents a challenge to the clinician and requires high proficiency in operating skills. The use of common regular flaps fails to completely cover the trauma. We report on a case in which the skin defect, reaching 42 × 15 cm, was repaired by the use of a scapula latissimus dorsi musculo‐cutaneous flap, and the functions of the affected limb were maintained to the utmost extent. Thus the patient has escaped amputation. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.