Local Random Fasciocutaneous Flaps for Repair of the Burned Elbow

Abstract

Wound management of the burned elbow is not always possible with a skin graft alone. Rather than resort to distant pedicle flaps or the complexity of microsurgical tissue transfers, local fasciocutaneous flaps may provide a better source for vascularized tissue. "Random" fasciocutaneous flaps do not require isolation of any discrete vessel, but must be designed to parallel the longitudinal axis of perifascial circulation in the upper extremity. Therefore no vessel in the major extremity need ever be violated, and muscle function is always preserved. Excision-to-fascia techniques for burn escharectomy should probably be minimized in the elbow region, because if the fascia remains intact, the overlying skin-grafted subcutaneous fat will survive flap transposition as a fasciocutaneous flap. Local flaps allow for earlier rehabilitation, and the donor defect is restricted to the already deformed ipsilateral extremity.