Sensory Disturbance of the Lower Extremity after Sural Artery Flap Elevation.
case_series · Level IV
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 33628514.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1155/2021/8886063 and PMC identifier 7896868.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Elevation of the sural artery flap with the sural nerve is associated with donor-site morbidities, such as postoperative sensory disturbance of the lower extremity. We evaluated the sensory disturbance of the lower extremity after elevation of the sural artery flap. This study included 7 patients who underwent surgery using the sural artery flap. The sensory disturbances immediately after surgery and at present were evaluated on a 10-point scale. The influences of surgery on activities of daily living and patient satisfaction were also evaluated. The sensory disturbance was 4.48 immediately after surgery and 2.24 presently, and the difference between the timepoints was not statistically significant. The influence of surgery on activities of daily living was 2.30, and the patient satisfaction was 7.90. It may be necessary to consider the sural artery flap, which does not include the sural nerve, to avoid unnecessary complications. When it is unavoidable to use the sural artery flap, including the sural nerve, it is important to thoroughly inform patients beforehand about the postsurgery sensory disturbance in the lower extremities.