Brachioradialis muscle flap for posterior elbow defects: a simple and effective solution for the upper limb surgeon.
BACKGROUND
Trauma, infection, and posterior surgical approach are the most frequent causes of soft tissue defects of posterior elbow. The brachioradialis (BR) muscle flap is a rotational muscular pedicled flap, and the dominant vascular pedicle arises from the radial recurrent artery in the proximal portion of the muscle. The aim of the study was to present the BR muscle flap as a simple, safe, and effective solution for the treatment of soft tissue defects of the posterior elbow.


METHODS
Five patients (3 males; mean age, 61.4 years; range, 40-73 years) with soft tissue defects of the posterior elbow underwent surgical treatment with the BR muscle flap. The causes of the defects were total elbow arthroplasty and postsurgical infection (n = 2), 1 patient with elbow arthrodesis due to neuropathic arthropathy, and postsurgical infection after open reduction and internal fixation of olecranon fractures (n = 2). All patients had a BR muscle flap and skin grafting. Orthopedic hardware was removed in 3 cases.


RESULTS
At the mean follow-up of 45 months (range, 26-61 months), all patients had viable and functional soft tissue coverage. All patients were free of infection, whereas 1 patient had a posterior elbow discomfort in daily activities. None of the patients reported wrist problems.


CONCLUSIONS
The BR muscle flap is a reliable solution, easy to harvest without requiring microsurgical expertise for small-size posterior elbow defects. It is a 1-stage procedure with no morbidity to the harvest site that provides stable and adequate coverage even in cases with postoperative infection.
['Zampeli|Frantzeska|F|', 'Spyridonos|Sarantos|S|', 'Fandridis|Emmanouil|E|']
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D057929:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Elbow D004551:Elbow Joint D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D018482:Muscle, Skeletal D017534:Radial Artery D019651:Reconstructive Surgical Procedures D017695:Soft Tissue Injuries D013524:Surgical Flaps D014945:Wound Healing
Brachioradialis flap elbow defect arthroplasty fracture complication wound