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Corresponding Author

Mostafa Hassan Abd El Salam Hassan

Document Type

Original Article

Abstract

Background: Preoperative assessment of available options for reconstruction of leg defects is one of the most challenging problems to tackle. Many techniques for mapping the perforators have been reported to guarantee the flap's success. However, primarily concentrate on the site of the perforator. With the size and site direction calibre of the perforator near the defect, we still have deficient knowledge of the best. Increased spatial resolution is provided in the final product image by a more significant amount of thin-sliced computed tomographic images generated by multidetector-row computed tomography (MD-CTA).

Objective: To evaluate the usefulness and efficacy of MD-CTA in preoperative planning of leg perforator freestyle flap.

Materials and Methods: Thirty patients all had post-traumatic minor to moderate-size leg defects between August 2018 and February 2023; after a complete medical history examination, they underwent an MD-CTA scan to map the available leg perforators around the defect. Clinical correlation to radiological findings was evaluated regarding size, site, MD-CTA accuracy, and its role in the preoperative assessment of leg defects.

Results: Every perforator that the MD-CTA had detected was found during surgery. The perforators' intraoperative placements and the positions determined by the MDCT analysis were separated by no more than 1 cm.

Conclusion: MD-CTA can be a useful imaging tool when preoperatively constructing a free-floating pedicled perforator flap to treat minor to average-size defects in the legs.

Keywords

Multidetector-row computed tomography; leg defect; freestyle flaps; perforator flaps

Subject Area

Plastic surgery

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