Utilisation d’un membre banque pour le comblement d’une perte de substance axillaire

Knee Joint Rescue in a Traumatic Amputation With Coverage by a Fillet-Free Flap From the Amputated Leg

Traumatic amputation is a severe injury that requires urgent surgical care. A fillet-free flap from the amputated limb is the most conservative way to ensure proper coverage of the stump when replantation is not possible. We report the case of a male patient who suffered from a traumatic limb amputation in a motorcycle accident. A free fillet flap from the posterior compartment of the leg carrying the posterior tibial pedicle, the soleus muscle, and skin tissue harvested from the amputated limb was performed to cover the amputation stump and thus allow preservation of the knee joint. In our case report, the patient conserved almost maximal knee joint range of motion (130°). He regained the ability to walk only two months after the initial trauma. Prosthetic fitting occurred quickly and without any particular issues throughout the process. Regarding quality of life, after one year, our patient had a five-level EQ-5D version (EQ-5D-5L) score of 21,221, and his 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36) score was divided between the five components in 85 points in physical functioning, 100 points in role limitations due to physical health, 100 points in role limitations due to emotional problems, 50 points in energy/fatigue, 68 points in emotional well-being, 75 points in social functioning, 45 points in pain, and 95 points in general health. This technique helped provide good coverage of the stump while preserving a functional knee joint, allowing for effective prosthetic fitting in the future and therefore optimizing our patient's quality of life.

The role of reconstructive surgery after soft tissue sarcoma resection

Soft tissue sarcomas are rare malignant tumors with pejorative prognosis. They require a multidisciplinary approach in a specialized hospital belonging to the NetSarc network in France. In all cases treated with curative intent, the objective of excision surgery is to achieve wide, microscopically negative margins (R0 according to the UICC classification). When growing on a limb, sarcomas may threaten functionally relevant structures and even lead to amputation. Nowadays, when combined with radiation therapy, wide exeresis limb-sparing surgery is achievable in 90 to 95% of the cases, of which 25% will nevertheless require reconstructive surgery to preserve the limb, to limit postoperative complications and to manage possible sequelae. Progress in reparative surgery, particularly in microsurgery, has helped not only to improve limb salvage rates but also to create wider margins without altering oncologic goals of curative resection. After determining the range of resection, reconstructive surgery should be tailored to address the tissue defect. The converse is to be strongly discouraged. The extent of resection must not be compromised or reduced in order to facilitate reconstructive surgery. A plastic surgeon must master all the flap techniques, including microsurgery, while taking into account the impact of preoperative and postoperative radiation therapy on previously irradiated tissues or on wounds requiring adjuvant therapy. Recent developments, especially as regards perforator flaps, have helped to enhanced the quality of reconstruction procedure while reducing donor site morbidity. In our experience, perforator flaps are a workhorse in reconstructive surgeries subsequent to soft tissue sarcoma of the extremities. On a parallel track, lipofilling (otherwise known as fat grafting or fat transfer) has become the first-line treatment for patients with post-surgical functional or cosmetic sequalae. It is performed after long-term follow-up during disease-free survival. Strict clinical examination and MRI are mandatory prior to programming any local procedure. Usually, three to four sessions of fat grafting are needed to enhance local trophicity or the cosmetic aspect. Sequalae treatments are of great interest in terms of psychological as well as functional outcome.