Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2022 Oct 11;2022(10):rjac460.
doi: 10.1093/jscr/rjac460. eCollection 2022 Oct.

Cross-leg flap in a burn patient: our experience from a tertiary center from Northern Tanzania

Affiliations
Case Reports

Cross-leg flap in a burn patient: our experience from a tertiary center from Northern Tanzania

Jay Lodhia et al. J Surg Case Rep. .

Abstract

Lower limb trauma with significant tissue loss poses a great challenge to the surgeons. Cross-leg flaps were first described in 1854 and are still used for limb-salvage surgeries in those not suitable for free tissue transfer or in resource-limited settings. Herein we present a case of a 16-year-old girl, otherwise well, who sustained burn injury to her right leg while cooking exposing the anterior aspect of her tibia. Limb-salvage surgeries were done including cross-leg 'fascio-cutaneous' flap with positive outcome. Herein, we share our experience showing an impactful and reliable option for limb salvage in resource-limited setting.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Post amputation of big and second toes and post trephination, exposed tibia.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Diagrammatic representation (L-left, R-right, T-tibia, F-fibula, red-flap and blue-grafted area).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Post cross-leg flap with external-fixator for immobilization of both lower limbs.
Figure 4
Figure 4
(A) Flap edge necrosis (yellow arrow) (B) pus discharge (blue arrow).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Post flap release and grafting of donor site.

References

    1. Peck M, Pressman MA. The correlation between burn mortality rates from fire and flame and economic status of countries. Burns 2013;39:1054–9. - PubMed
    1. Mahajan RK, Srinivasan K, Ghildiyal H, Singh M, Jain A, Kapadia T, et al. . Review of cross-leg flaps in reconstruction of posttraumatic lower extremity wounds in a microsurgical unit. Indian J Plast Surg 2019;52:117–24. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lu L, Liu A, Zhu L, Zhang J, Zhu X, Jiang H. Cross-leg flaps: our preferred alternative to free flaps in the treatment of complex traumatic lower extremity wounds. J Am Coll Surg 2013;217:461–71. - PubMed
    1. Visit to Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre – Care4Burn [Internet]. Care4burnorg 2022[cited 20 October 2021]. Available from:https://www.care4burn.org/besoeg-til-kilimanjaro-christian-medical-centr... (20 October 2021, date last accessed).
    1. Van Boerum MS, Wright T, McFarland M, Fiander M, Pannucci CJ. Cross-leg flaps for lower extremity salvage: a scoping review. J Reconstr Microsurg 2019;35:505–15. - PubMed

Publication types