Flow-through use of the osteomusculocutaneous free fibular flap

A case of a forearm defect resulting from a high-velocity firearm injury was reconstructed by flow-through free transfer of the osteomusculocutaneous fibular flap harvested from the remaining stump of the patient's left leg that was amputated below the knee. The dimensions of the bone defect and damage to anatomic structures of more than one type (including ulnar artery, ulnar bone, and overlying soft tissue) were the reasons for the treatment approach with a composite tissue transfer including vascularized bone. Preoperative radiographic and angiographic examination revealed that the amputation stump offered a fibular shaft with adequate length and a peroneal artery patent up to the most distal point of the bone. Instead of the usual osteocutaneous fibular harvest, flap harvest was performed in an osteomusculocutaneous manner with incorporation of a segment of soleus muscle with an overlying skin paddle. In addition to the replacement of the bone defect, transfer of the flap in a flow-through manner reestablished the dual blood supply of the hand by replacing the ulnar artery gap, whereas the muscle and skin of the flap allowed three-dimensional reconstruction of the complex defect. In severe injuries of the upper extremity, flow-through free transfer of the fibular flap provides not only replacement of the resulting composite defect but also may offer salvage, or at least revascularization, of the extremity when complicated by arterial damage.