Distally based fasciocutaneous sural flap for foot reconstruction: a retrospective review of 10 years experience.

BACKGROUND: The treatment of soft tissue defects of the foot is a problem mainly connected to the thickness of the coverage tissues, to the poor circulation, and to the frequent involvement of muscle, tendon, and bone. The authors present their experience with the sural flap, also in some particular cases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors treated 33 patients for small- and medium-size defects of the foot, caused by work, home, and road accidents, and by venous or diabetic ulcers. In all cases, the flap was cut in its fasciocutaneous variant; an extension of the sole portion of fascia was added in 5 patients. The flap was transferred under a subcutaneous tunnel in 10 cases, with an open incision in 20 cases, and in 3 cases the pedicle was kept external for 4 weeks, then resected. RESULTS: One patient showed a complete necrosis of the flap and another showed a superficial necrosis preserving the deep fascia; in the remaining 31 cases, the flap incorporated without any major complication. The flap provided proper coverage of the defects from both an aesthetic and functional point of view as evidenced clinically and through a baropedographic test. CONCLUSION: The advantages of this flap include: dissection is fast and easy, it is not necessary to sacrifice important arterial pedicle or muscular units as it can be used in traumatized limbs without further damage to main arteries, and a wide rotation arc is possible. Disadvantages include the sacrifice of the sural nerve and the covering of the donor region with skin grafts.