title: The salvage of knee-exposed prosthesis using neurofasciocutaneous sural flap.
abstract: Prosthetic exposure is a severe complication of total knee arthroplasty. Many factors are responsible for failed wound healing, and successful salvage of total knee arthroplasty requires early identification of infection, antecedent events related with wound healing failure, aggressive surgical debridement and early appropriate soft-tissue coverage with local skin, fasciocutaneous, muscle, neurocutaneous or perforator flaps. In this report, we present 15 cases of exposed knee prosthesis treated with island sural neurocutaneous flap. Follow-up showed favorable clinical outcomes: all flaps survived and only two cases of hematoma and one of aseptic phystula occurred. According to our results, the island neurofasciocutaneous sural flap represents a sensate reconstructive alternative for providing fine and dependable soft tissue for covering skin defects around the knee.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, I.R.C.C.S. Policlinico San Donato, University of Milan, Via Morandi 30, 20097, San Donato, Milan, Italy. luca.vaienti@unimi.it
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vaienti
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Menozzi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lonigro
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soresina
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ravasio
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007720:Knee Prosthesis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D013529:Surgical Wound Dehiscence / Q000601:surgery*