Lowering the pivot point of sural neurofasciocutaneous flaps to reconstruct deep electrical burn wounds in the distal foot

Due to the thinness of the skin and soft tissues in the foot, tendons and bones tend to become exposed and necrotic after injury; therefore, it is difficult to reconstruct foot injuries, especially distally. Reconstruction with free skin flaps is highly risky as it demands technologies and equipment, while patients suffer greatly from the use of cross-leg skin flaps. Sural neurofasciocutaneous flaps are often used for reconstruction of wounds in the lower leg, malleolus, and the proximal end of the foot but are not feasible for wound repair in the distal foot; this is because, with the pivot point of 5-7 cm above the tip of the lateral malleolus, the flaps are not able to cover defects in the distal foot. In this study, we used a sural neurofasciocutaneous flaps with a lowered pivot point for reconstruction of distal foot wounds caused by electrical burns. An ultrasound flow detector and Doppler flow imaging were used to detect the diameter, the perforating point and the blood flow of the lateral retromalleolar perforator. Twelve patients with the perforator diameter greater than 0.6 mm and the peak systolic flow more than 0.15 m/s were included. The pivot point of sural neurofasciocutaneous flaps was lowered to 0-3 cm above the tip of the lateral malleolus and the size of the flaps ranged from 6 cm × 5 cm to 12 cm × 18 cm. Eleven of the 12 flaps survived completely. One flap developed necrosis approximately 1 cm at the far point but was managed successfully by daily dressing. We demonstrated that lowering the pivot point of sural neurofasciocutaneous flaps is feasible for reconstruction of distal foot injury with the advantages of reliable blood supply and easy operation. The use of Doppler flow imaging provides useful information for the design of the flaps.