Soft-tissue coverage for severe defects of the lower extremity*.
Soft-tissue defects of the lower extremity usually result from trauma, infection, vascular insufficiency, or surgery. In the past, defects that could not be treated by primary closure or skin grafts have been allowed to "fill in"-a slow process of granulation, contraction, and epithelialization. Some defects have been treated in multistaged flap procedures, which are time-consuming and expensive. In recent years, two new methods of tissue transfer have greatly improved our ability to close these difficult wounds and to rehabilitate these patients: muscle flaps and free flaps. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 1981;2(4):160-162.
Irons
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GB