title: Cross-leg as salvage procedure after free flaps transfer failure: a case report.
abstract: Posttraumatic wounds of the lower leg with soft tissue defects and exposed fractures are a reconstructive challenge due to the scarce availability of local tissues and recipient vessels. Even when a free tissue transfer can be performed the risk of failure remains considerable. When a free flap is contraindicated or after a free flap failure, the cross-leg flap is still nowadays a possible option. We report a case of a male with a severe posttraumatic wound of the lower leg with exposed tibia fracture firstly treated with two consecutive latissimus dorsi muscular free flaps, failed for vascular thrombosis; the coverage was then achieved with a cross-leg flap with acceptable results.
authors.affiliation: Plastic Surgery Department, S.Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, 40138 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Contedini
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Negosanti
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fabbri
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tavaniello
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sgarzani
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cipriani