Clinical Application Of Retrograde Peroneal Artery Perforator Flapin Repairing Ankle Soft Tissue Defects

Objectives:apply retrograde peroneal artery perforator flap to repair ankle soft tissue defects, to provide an effective clinical treatment method for skin and soft tissue defects around ankles.Methods:18patients in our hospital during the period from March2012to December2013who clearly have soft tissue defects around ankles, apply retrograde peroneal artery perforator flap to repair defects around ankles under general anesthesia (epidural anesthesia), design peroneal artery terminal perforator into vascular pedicle, and repair with island flap or muscular flap blood-supplied by retrograde perforator of the distal-segment peroneal artery. The cut range of flap during operation is3cm×4cm~8cm×12cm.Results:flaps of all these18patients have survived.15patients heal during wound phase I,2patients have partial edge necrosis and heal after dressing change, and1patients have partial necrosis in distal flap and then heal after later expansion skin graft. The average length of stays is25days. Follow up for1~6months, flaps have fine texture, satisfactory appearance, no pigmentation or ulcer, and have recovered to some extent, and patients’ankles after achilles tendon reconstruction are in functional positions, their labor capacity is restored.Conclusion:lateral calf island flap tissues with peroneal artery terminal perforator as vascular pedicle have rich and hidden blood supply and low vascular variability, and are easy to cut without sacrificing the main blood vessels. Thus, it is a good method to repair ankle achilles tendon exposure (defects), bone exposure, osteomyelitis and other defects.