title: The use of thermography to design tissue flaps - experimental studies on animals.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Methods allowing one to locate the position of a cutaneous perforator do not allow one to determine the boundaries of the vascularized skin. In clinical practice this causes complications in the form of marginal necrosis of the flap.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the usefulness of thermography to assess the extent of vascularization of the skin and subcutaneous tissue by a single perforator.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-one male rats were used. Using dynamic thermography the perforators on the abdominal skin were located. Afterwards the flap was prepared on a randomly chosen perforator. After 24 h the extent of vascularization of the skin by a single perforator was examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In 22.5% of cases the number of perforators marked in the thermography was equal to the number of perforators marked intraoperatively, in 64.5% it was lower and in 13% higher. The use of thermography has shown that basing the flap vascularization on the perforator with low efficiency resulted in statistically more frequent occurrence of ischemia and partial necrosis of the flap (p = 0.024). Partial necrosis of the flap occurred in 12 of 31 cases, always in the area in which during the preoperative thermography no perforators were found. The areas of necrosis occurred irrespectively of the distance from the supplying vessel.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  When designing the shape of the flap, the distribution of all perforators must be considered. The perforators need to be included in the area of prepared tissues because their location indicates the area with a more efficient network of vessels.
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Plastic, Endocrine and General Surgery, Pomeranian Medical University, Police, Poland.
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Czapla
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Plastic, Endocrine and General Surgery, Pomeranian Medical University, Police, Poland.
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lokaj
authors.affiliation: Department of Interventional Radiology, Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland.
authors.forename: Aleksander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Falkowski
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Plastic, Endocrine and General Surgery, Pomeranian Medical University, Police, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Prowans
keywords: flap; perforator; thermography