Transposition of muscle flaps for covering exposed bone in the leg.
A muscle transposition technique for reconstruction of soft tissue loss and skin defects with exposed bone in the leg is described. Reconstruction with muscle flaps and freee skin grafts is a reliable and convenient one-stage operation. The gastrocnemius and soleus muscles were used to cover the upper and middle third of the leg. The method was used in 13 patients, and there were 3 failures in the series because of the impaired vascularity of the injuried leg. In 7 cases, including one failure, the soft tissue injury was associated with compound fractures. No functional disability was observed in the leg, ankle or foot after successful transposition of the muscle flap.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005597:Fractures, Open / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007869:Leg Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009132:Muscles / Q000098:blood supply / Q000601:surgery*; D016038:Skin Transplantation; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D014945:Wound Healing