Background: Coverage of soft tissue defects of the foot has been a challenge to reconstructive surgeons. The medial plantar flap presents an ideal tissue, particularly for the reconstruction of foot defects.. In this study, we describe our experience with medial plantar flap for coverage of foot defects.
Patients and Methods: Eleven patients with soft-tissue defects over the plantar foot, distal forefoot,posterior heel, and ankle were treated. Preoperative data, the age and sex of each patients, cause and site of defects, dimension of flaps, postoperative results and complications were recorded.
Results: All patients were male, with ages ranging from 20 to 22 years (mean; 21 years). Postoperatively 10 flaps survived completely while partial necrosis was observed in one patient. Flap size varied from a width of 3 to 5.5 cm and a length of 2 to 6 cm. All survived flaps used to cover defects adapted well to their recipient areas, providing good color match and sufficient bulkiness. The mean follow-up period was 9 months.
Conclusion: The authors advocate that medial plantar flap is a versatile, reliable procedure, useful in reconstruction of modarate-size heel, ankle and distal forefoot defects. The surgical technique is safe, and provides alternative to microsurgical reconstruction.
Key Words: Medial Plantar Flap; Foot Defects.
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