A STUDY ON DIFFERENT SURGICAL OPTIONS OF LOWER THIRD LEG DEFECTS AND ITS OUTCOME

Abstract

Background: The bones of the lower third are vulnerable to injury. Due to the paucity of soft tissues around them, the fractures that occur are often open. Most muscles become tendons at that level and in the case of soft tissue loss, skin graft may not sufce and flap cover becomes mandatory. Conventional teaching recommends gastrocnemius muscle and myocutaneous aps and fasciocutaneous aps for the upper third leg defects, soleus aps for the middle third defects and free aps for the lower third defects. Aim: Different surgical options in management of lower third leg defects. Material And Method: The study was conducted from JANUARY 2018 to December 2019, in the Department of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (IPGME&R) and SSKM Hospital, KOLKATA. Result: 70 patients admitted to the Department of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery and referred patients from Department of General Surgery & Orthopaedic Surgery, IPGME&R and SSKM Hospital, KOLKATA. Association of FLAP LOSS with Pedicled ap was statistically signicant (p=0.0259). We found that association of DONOR SITE MORBIDITYwith Pedicled ap was not statistically signicant (p=0.7679). Conclusion: We consider that perforator propeller aps are ideal in reconstructing small-medium defects of the middle and distal third of the leg, being safe, easy to perform, providing similar tissue in texture and thickness of damaged tissues, with low donor-site morbidity.