title: Use of distally pedicled sural fasciocutaneous cross-leg flap in severe foot and ankle trauma: a safe alternative to microsurgery in very young children.
abstract: Advances in reconstructive microsurgery have enabled us to make use of many flap alternatives in severe lower-extremity trauma, and traditional cross-leg flaps for wound coverage have been replaced in most centers by free-tissue transfers. But free-flap surgery is still a challenging area in very young pediatric populations because of technical difficulties with considerable drawbacks. Six children with severe foot and ankle trauma were presented. Distally based sural fasciocutaneous cross-leg flaps were carried out to cover the defects, with no complications. Because of its easy dissection and reliable pedicle without compromising the major vessels, this procedure may be a safe choice among the other cross-leg flap alternatives when microsurgery is not considered.
authors.affiliation: Vakif Gureba Training and Research Hospital, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Istanbul, Turkey. aydinseye@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Aydin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gözü
authors.forename: Türker
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ozyiğit
authors.forename: Zafer
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ozsoy
mesh_terms: D016512:Ankle Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005205:Fascia / Q000637:transplantation*; D005260:Female; D018409:Foot Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D008866:Microsurgery / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000637:transplantation*; D016038:Skin Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D013524:Surgical Flaps