Summary
Late failure of microsurgical flaps is a rare event and it has been reported as a
consequence of compression of the vascular pedicle or late infection.
We report a case of late partial failure occurring 3 weeks post-operatively which
was shown by vascular imaging to be caused by a previously unidentified complete occlusion
of the right external iliac artery.
After successful vascular bypass surgery, the suffering flap developed granulation
tissue and was skin grafted.
In patients carrying multiple risk factors for peripheral vascular disease, the risk
of proximal vessel occlusion as a cause of flap failure, should be kept in mind.
Keywords
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References
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 26, 2011
Accepted:
November 26,
2011
Received:
November 24,
2011
Footnotes
☆Case report presented on 25 March 2010 at the 37th Alpine Workshop On Plastic Surgery (Corvara, Italy).
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
