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Neurotized sural flap: An alternative in sensory reconstruction of the foot and ankle defects
Author(s) -
Tan Onder,
Aydin Osman E.,
Demir Recep,
Barin Ensar Z.,
Cinal Hakan,
Algan Said
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
microsurgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.031
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1098-2752
pISSN - 0738-1085
DOI - 10.1002/micr.22325
Subject(s) - medicine , ankle , foot (prosody) , surgery , physical medicine and rehabilitation , linguistics , philosophy
Introduction The sensory reconstruction of the lower extremity is one of the main goals in lower extremity reconstruction. Reconstructive options endowing sensory recovery are limited. The aim of this report is to evaluate the neurotized sural flap in reconstruction of foot and ankle defects. Patients and Methods Seven cases that were operated for foot and ankle skin defects with the neurotized sural flap were reported. The largest flap was 10 cm × 14 cm in size. Median age was 38 years. Four defects were on the heel, two were on the ankle, and one was on the dorsum of the foot. The sural nerve was coaptated to a recipient nerve in seven patients. Results All flaps survived totally. Follow‐up time ranged between 9 and 29 months. All cases had hot–cold perception and two‐point discrimination at average 14 ± 1.63 mm at 6th month. Sensory conduction test revealed very low action potentials related to stimulation of the flap. Conclusion The neurotized sural flap is a versatile modification, for the sensory reconstruction of the moderate size foot and ankle defects. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microsurgery 35:183–189, 2015.