Crossover replantation after bilateral traumatic lower limb amputations: a case report

Jun Fang,Wenguo Liu,Jingchun Chen,Huazhuang Li,Honglei Dou,Gang Ding,Aiping Xu

doi:10.1186/1752-1947-6-218

Abstract

IntroductionReplantation of a limb to the contralateral stump after bilateral traumatic amputations is rare. To the best of our knowledge, there are only a few reports of crossover lower limb replantation in the literature.Case presentationWe treated a 37-year-old Chinese woman with bilateral lower limb crush injuries sustained in a traffic accident. Her lower limb injuries were at different anatomic levels. We performed emergency bilateral amputations followed by crossover replantation. Five years later, the woman had recovered well, and had perfect movement and stability in her replanted leg. After reviewing the literature, we thought that presentation of our patient’s case might provide useful information for clinicians.ConclusionsCrossover replantation should be considered when evaluating a patient with bilateral lower limb injuries, thus allowing the patient to touch the ground and stand using their own foot.

Highlights

Replantation of a limb to the contralateral stump after bilateral traumatic amputations is rare
Crossover replantation should be considered when evaluating a patient with bilateral lower limb injuries, allowing the patient to touch the ground and stand using their own foot
The lower limb injuries were at different anatomic levels (Figure 1A-C). Her lower limb was crushed from her hip joint to 16cm below her knee joint, but the bones and soft tissues of the lower one-third of her leg were intact with only slight injury to the skin

Summary

Introduction

Microsurgical techniques have enabled the replantation of traumatically amputated limbs. We decided to perform crossover replantation of her right lower leg to the left leg stump to provide our patient with a sensate weight-bearing extremity. There was no ulceration of the replanted extremity or the right-sided amputation stump at 39 months postoperatively The sole of her foot on the left side regained complete protective sensation (Figure 2B). Our patient described the functional result of the replantation as satisfying, and found that the prosthesis on the right side caused more problems than the replanted left lower limb She had no complaints about the cosmetic result. 2. Betz AM, Stock W, Hierner R, Schweiberer L: Crossover replantation after bilateral traumatic lower-leg amputation: a case-report with a six-year follow-up. Doi:10.1186/1752-1947-6-218 Cite this article as: Fang et al.: Crossover replantation after bilateral traumatic lower limb amputations: a case report.

Discussion

Conclusions