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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · South Asian J Cancer 2019; 08(04): 255-257
DOI: 10.4103/sajc.sajc_11_19
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Sarcomas and Skin Cancer

Reverse sural flap – A feasible option for oncological defects of the lower extremity, ankle, and foot: Our experience from Northeast India

Abhijit Talukdar
Department of Surgical Oncology, Dr. B. Borooah Cancer Institute, Guwahati, Assam, India
,
Jitin Yadav
Department of Surgical Oncology, Dr. B. Borooah Cancer Institute, Guwahati, Assam, India
,
Joydeep Purkayastha
Department of Surgical Oncology, Dr. B. Borooah Cancer Institute, Guwahati, Assam, India
,
Niju Pegu
Department of Surgical Oncology, Dr. B. Borooah Cancer Institute, Guwahati, Assam, India
,
Pritesh R. Singh
Department of Surgical Oncology, Dr. B. Borooah Cancer Institute, Guwahati, Assam, India
,
Revanth K. Kodali
Department of Surgical Oncology, Dr. B. Borooah Cancer Institute, Guwahati, Assam, India
,
Dwipen Kalita
Department of Surgical Oncology, Dr. B. Borooah Cancer Institute, Guwahati, Assam, India
,
Srinivas Bannoth
Department of Surgical Oncology, Dr. B. Borooah Cancer Institute, Guwahati, Assam, India
› Author Affiliations Financial support and sponsorship Nil.
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Abstract

Background: Soft-tissue management around the lower third of the leg and foot presents a challenge to the surgeon. To achieve local control of tumor, additional surgical margins are required, thus creating large soft-tissue defects. The reverse sural artery flap (RSAF) is a popular option for many of these defects. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study of 26 patients who underwent resection of tumor around the lower leg, ankle, and foot, and reconstruction with RSAF was performed at our institute from 2012 to 2018. Results: Among the 26 studied patients, aged between 22 and 71 (mean age: 50.8) years, 5 were female and rest were male. The most common site of involvement by tumor was heel (42.3%), followed by sole (26.9%). The most common histopathological diagnosis was melanoma (61.5%), followed by squamous cell carcinoma (26.9%) and soft-tissue sarcoma (11.5%). Conclusion: The distally based sural flap is a reliable flap for the coverage of soft-tissue defects following oncological defects of the distal lower extremity and foot.

Key words

Free flap - melanoma - reverse sural flap


Publication History

Article published online:
14 December 2020

© 2019. MedIntel Services Pvt Ltd. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)

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