title: [Repairing soft tissue defect coverage in lower leg with a bridge shaped medial hemisleus muscle flap transplantation].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To summarize clinical application results of repairing soft tissue defect in lower leg with a bridge shaped medial hemisleus muscle flap pedicle transplantation.
  
  
  METHODS
  From January 2008 to January 2012,12 patients with soft-tissue defect in lower leg underwent reconstruction with a bridge shaped medial hemisleus muscle flap pedicle transplantation. There were 8 males and 4 females with an average age of 34 years old ranging from 22 to 50 years old. Time after injury was from 2 to 12 weeks (means, 3.5 weeks ). The immediate coverage of the muscle flaps were performed by a meshed split-thickness skin graft. The donor site was closed directly.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All the muscle flaps had survived completely. Follow-up period ranged form 1.8 to 4.0 years (means, 2.8 years) postoperatively. The tibia and fibula fractures were confirmed healing. A good contour was confirmed at the recipient area. The results were evaluated with LEM questionnaire, excellent results were obtained in 6 cases, good in 5 cases and fair in 1 case. Satisfactory clinical results were obtained in 11 cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This technique is particularly useful for repairing soft tissue defect in the injured leg when only one vessel remains, and can reduce injury to donor site.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Orthopaedics, Lanzhou General Hospital of Lanzhou Military Area, Lanzhou 730050, Gansu, China. 668zgl@163.com
authors.forename: Gong-Lin
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhen
authors.forename: Ke-Ming
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jun-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Shi-Yong
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007869:Leg Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D017695:Soft Tissue Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D055815:Young Adult