The penetrating wound of palm with the defect of tissues was usually caused by blunt crushing of gun-shot injury. It was difficult to treat clinically. In order to repair the skin defect of palm and dorsum in one operation, 2 kinds of dumbbell-shaped double-leaf flap were desigened. From February 1993 to March 1996, 5 cases with penetrating wound of palm were treated by this method in which the interosseous posterior artery flap in 4, and the superficial epigastric flap in 1. There were 4 males and 1 female with the ages ranging from 15 to 47 years old. The results were as follows: total survival of the flap in 4 cases and partial necrosis of skin margin of the distal leaf in 1 case. The appearance and function of the flap were satisfactory after a follow-up from 4 months to 3 years. It was concluded that the interosseous posterior artery flap had a long vascular pedicle with its constant anatomical distribution, and the 2nd stage of division of the pedicle of the flap was not necessary. It was a perfect flap in repairing the penetrating wound of the palm with small skin defect. The superficial epigastric flap was cumbersome in appearance and was necessary to divide the pedicle of the flap in 2nd staged operation. It was suitable in repairing the penetrating wound with large skin defect. Regarding the operative technique, a meticulous debridement and the appropriate flap area were required, and the blood vessel of the flap should not be compressed by the surrounding tissues. The advantages of this operation provided a simple method to handle, high rate of survival, and one-staged operation.
ObjectiveTo explore the effectiveness of the free bilobed medial sural artery perforator (BMSAP) flap to repair penetrating wound of the foot. MethodsBetween April 2012 and October 2014, 7 cases of foot penetrating wounds were treated with the BMSAP flap. There were 5 males and 2 females, aged from 21 to 43 years (mean, 31.5 years). The causes of injury included the crush injury (4 cases), blunt puncture (2 cases), and firearm injury (1 case). The wound was located at the left foot in 4 cases and at the right foot in 3 cases. There were longitudinal penetrating injury in 5 cases and transverse penetrating injury in 2 cases. The size of wound ranged from 4 cm×3 cm to 9 cm×7 cm. The interval between injury and admission was 0.5-5.5 hours (mean, 3.2 hours). The free BMSAP flap of 5 cm×4 cm-10 cm×8 cm in size was used to repair the wounds on both sides and to reconstruct the sensation. The donor site was sutured or repaired with skin graft. ResultsAfter operation, 1 case had distal flap necrosis, the flap survived after dressing change; 1 case had wound infection, and delayed healing was obtained after drainage; and the flap survived completely, and primary healing was obtained in the other 5 cases. The skin grafts survived and healing of incision by first intention was observed at donor sites. The patients were followed up from 7 to 24 months (mean, 12.5 months). The flap had soft texture and similar color to normal skin. According to the British Medical Research Council (BMRC) sensory function assessment system, 1 case was rated as S2, 4 cases as S3, and 2 cases as S3+. The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score was 86-97 (mean, 93.6); the results were excellent in 6 cases and good in 1 case. ConclusionThe free BMSAP flap is very suitable to repair penetrating wound of the foot. The flap has the advantages of repairing the two wounds at the same time and reconstructing skin sensation as well.