Long-term results after muscle-rib flap transfer for reconstruction of composite limb defects

✍ Scribed by Alexandru V. Georgescu; Ioannis Ignatiadis; Matei Ileana; Capota Irina; Ardelean Filip; Radu Olariu

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 158 KB
• Volume: 31
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0738-1085
• DOI: 10.1002/micr.20857

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The authors present the long‐term results in a series of 44 cases with post‐traumatic bone defects solved with muscle‐rib flaps, between March 1997 and December 2007. In these cases, we performed 21 serratus anterior‐rib flaps (SA‐R), 10 latissimus dorsi‐rib flaps (LD‐R), and 13 LD‐SA‐R. The flaps were used in upper limb in 18 cases and in lower limb in 26 cases. With an overall immediate success rate of 95.4% (42 of 44 cases) and a primary bone union rate of 97.7% (43 of 44 cases), and despite the few partisans of this method, we consider that this procedure still remains very usefully for small and medium bone defects accompanied by large soft tissue defects. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. Microsurgery, 2011.