Percutaneous Quilting Technique for the Treatment of Morel-Lavallée Lesion

This study looks at the outcome of percutaneous quilting technique for the treatment of closed degloving injuries or Morel-Lavallée lesions (MLL).

Prospective single-centre nonrandomized case series.

Patients with MLL visiting our hospital between January 2012 and May 2018.

The method involves percutaneous single-stage suturing of skin and deep fascia with heavy, non-absorbable, non-braided sutures starting from periphery to centre.

Resolution of the lesion.

Twenty-two patients with MLL treated, which included 18 males and 4 females with an average age of 22 (range 16-52). Lesions varied in length from 12 to 60 cm. The average time gap from the injury to drainage of the lesion was 7 days (range 2-60 days). We followed these cases weekly for 4 weeks and then once a month until 6 months and then at the end of the year. All 22 cases healed uneventfully.

Percutaneous drainage along with suturing of the skin and subcutaneous tissue to deep fascia prevents the discordant movement and obliterates the dead space-aiding apposition of the layers. This is a simple and effective procedure with low recurrence rates that addresses the primary pathology of MLL.

Therapeutic level IV.