title: Reconstruction of crush injuries of the foot dorsum: is the latissimus dorsi muscle flap a reliable choice?
abstract: Thirteen patients who underwent 13 latissimus dorsi free flaps for subacute foot dorsum defects were identified over a 4-year period. The average age of the patients was 30.5 years (range: 8 to 52 years). There were eight male, five female patients. The average follow-up was 23 months (range: 2 to 47 months). The soft-tissue defect resulted from motor vehicle accident in all cases. All of the patients presented with soft-tissue loss combined with extensor tendon and/or bone injury. The wounds were treated with serial debridement and free latissimus dorsi or latissimus dorsi-serratus anterior muscle and split-thickness skin graft coverage in all cases. The mean size of the flaps was 19 x 11 cm (range: 15 to 24 cm x 9 to 16 cm). Twelve of 13 flaps survived. Complications included infection (1 case), seroma in the donor region (2 cases), total flap failure (1 case), partial flap necrosis (2 cases), and wound dehiscence (2 cases).
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgery, Dr. Lütfi Kirdar Kartal Education and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Guniz Eker
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Uluçay
authors.forename: Serkan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yildirim
authors.forename: Eser
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aydoğdu
authors.forename: Tayfun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aköz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D018409:Foot Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery*; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000637:transplantation*; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000098:blood supply; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology