The lateral calcaneal flap for sensate heel reconstruction revisited

Defects of the heel can be difficult to treat because they require a thin, sensate, soft-tissue cover. The lateral calcaneal flap can provide this type of reconstruction in selected patients. A 27-year-old man had a painful defect in a grafted heel that prevented him from working. A satisfactory painless heel was provided by resurfacing the area with a lateral calcaneal flap. The donor defect was minimized by interfascicular dissection of the sural nerve.