Leena Jain
Introduction: In the management of amputation stumps, surgical endeavour is to provide an ideal stump, over which a well-fitting prosthesis maybe given. Moving on from the conventional workhorse flap cover of latissimus dorsi muscle or myocutaneous flap, free fasciocutaneous flaps offer several advantages. With the advent of perforator flaps, there seems to be a resurgence of islanded regional flaps providing a better tissue match while reducing the donor site morbidity.
Materials and Methods: The successful use of a parascapular fasciocutaneous flap to cover an above-elbow amputation stump with exposed bone is described in a patient with post traumatic above elbow amputation attributable to a long pedicle and its eccentric location. With no further shortening of the bone length, the stump was covered with robust tissue of good match with primary closure of donor site while preserving the latissimus dorsi muscle. This was carried out in Department of Plastic Surgery, Victoria Hospital, Bangalore Medical College and Research Centre, Bangalore.
Conclusion: The islanded parascapular flap is a good option for above elbow stump cover reaching up to the distal third of the arm providing robust tissue of excellent match without any donor site morbidity. Also we believe that this application of islanded parascapular flap for above elbow amputation stumps has not been described in the past.