Study of the Effect of the Dissected Length and Diameter of Perforators and the Angle of Rotation on Blood Flow in the Radial Artery Perforator-Based Propeller Flaps

Abstract

Background: Soft tissue defects in the hand can resultfrom a varietyof mechanisms including trauma, infection, andmalignant tumors. Propeller flaps have become an appealingoption for coverage of a large range of defects. The aim ofthis study is to determine the effect of dissected length of theperforator and its diameter and the angle of rotation or twistingof the flap on the blood flow in this chosen perforator andthe flap vascularity.Methods: Thirty cases of skin and soft tissue defects ofthe hand and wrist were reconstructed with a perforator-basedpropeller flap from the radial artery in the period from May2016 to November 2019. The age of patients ranged from 15to 60 years. The defects were on the dorsal or palmer aspectof the hand and wrist. We evaluated the viability of theflap,blood velocity and flow of the flap, survived area of theflap according to length and diameter of the chosen perforatorand the angle of rotation of the flap.