DOI: https://doi.org/10.36347/sjams.2025.v13i02.036

Pages: 507-512

Background: Distal 3rd of leg & ankle is characterized by tight skin and poor blood supply. Soft tissue loss in these areas provides a frequent challenge to reconstructive surgeons. Tendons and bones are frequently exposed because of the thinness of the subcutaneous tissue. The possible reconstructive options are skin grafts, local flaps, distant flaps and free flaps but their usage is limited and problematic. The present study has been designed to evaluate the outcome of coverage of these regions by reverse sural flap. Material & Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted at NITOR, Dhaka, from January 2017 to December 2018. Patients with soft tissue loss over distal 3rd of leg & around ankle without any PVD or uncontrolled DM were study population. Total 30 patients aging between 10 to 70 years were included in the study. All cases were evaluated by clinical features and functional outcome. Three to twelve months follow up was done. Results: The mean age was 33.13±16.65 years with a male predominance (83%). 40% of the cases were smoker and it was identified as a risk factor of flap outcome. Only 2 (6.67%) had comorbidities which was DM and significantly associated with flap outcome. The mean flap size was 40.96±14.19 cm2. Higher flap size is significantly associated with lower flap survivability. The average injury to operation time was 8.97 ±3.53 days. In 24 (80%) cases flap has survived completely. Marginal, partial, subtotal necrosis and complete flap loss has occurred in 3 (10%), 1 (3.33%), 1 (3.33%), and 1 (3.33%) case respectively. The complications were, wound infection (20%), hematoma (6.67%) and venous congestion (3.33%).