Coverage of elbow ulcers in a patient with Werner's syndrome.

Abstract

We present the repair of trophic ulcers on both elbows in a patient with Werner's syndrome. There is little information in the surgical literature about the repair of ulcers in patients with this rare entity. The technique used for coverage of the left elbow was an adipofascial turnover flap and on the right elbow an "extended" lateral arm island flap. We analyze the superior result of the latter technique and its advantages over other alternatives. It is a one-stage procedure that is reasonably easy and safe; it avoids elbow and shoulder stiffness; it avoids sacrifice of a principal artery or muscle; the donor site can be closed directly; and the padding obtained is optimum. With the "extended" dissection, we can obtain an additional advance to cover the elbow defect.