Chronic venous ulcer treatment with fascial pedunculated graft

Chronic venous ulcer treatment is often time consuming and requires a high degree of compliance from the patient. This derives not only from venous hypertension but also from chronic structural and metabolic changes of underlying tissues which impair the healing process. It therefore becomes necessary to improve the ulcer tissue condition in order to accelerate the healing process. This is obtained mainly with the improvement of local haemodynamics and secondly by direct action on the ulcer. The aim of the study is to evaluate the efficacy of a treatment with a pedunculated flap of fascia as an additional treatment of chronic venous ulcer.

Four patients classified C6 according to the CEAP classification were treated for chronic venous ulcer with correction of venous hypertension (saphenectomy or ligature of incompetent perforating veins). The patients also underwent rotation of a fascial pedunculated flap transferred from the sural area to the perimalleolar area. After 7-15 days they had a free skin graft in the treated area.

All patients were discharged on the 3(rd) postoperative day after the flap rotation. In 3 patients the ulcer healed within 30 days and in a 4(th) patient within 45 days. No recurrence was observed.

With this method the healing time seems to be shortened compared to the typical evolution in patients treated with only reflux control followed by conservative therapy. Associating fascial flap in the treatment of chronic venous ulcers improves the bed on which the free skin graft is applied. We can also hypothesize that this procedure restores the aponeurotic barrier between deep venous circulation and superficial microcirculation with the ensuing improvement in local venous hypertension.