Abstract
The anterolateral thigh (ALT) flap is one of the most commonly used flap worldwide, as both free flap and pedicled local flap. Here, we report the use of a pedicled chimeric sensitive ALT and vastus lateralis muscle (VLM) flap in a patient with a 12 cm × 8 cm contaminated soft tissue defect of the right inguinal region with exposed femoral vessels. The flap was harvested based on two perforators, one musculocutaneous and one pure muscular, each nourished separately a sensitive fasciocutaneous component and a vastus lateralis muscle component, respectively. The muscle part was tailored to wrap around the exposed vascular structures, while the innervated skin and fascia component of the flap provided a tension-free closure of the wound. The post-operative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged at 1 week post-operative. Even though it requires technical skills and experience in perforator dissection, we believe that the pedicled chimeric sensitive ALT and VLM flap may be one of the best solutions in case of exposed femoral vessels in contaminated wounds.
Scaglioni, Mario F