Clinical significance of the secondary pedicle amputation of the repair of distal defects with pedicled axial flap

We aimed to explore the clinical significance of the secondary pedicle amputation of the repair of distal defects with pedicled axial flap. Five patients who underwent pedicled axial flap transfer to repair a large area of skin and soft tissue defects in our hospital were included in this retrospective study. Detailed information including general data and clinical data, such as preoperative complication, type of primary wound, the distance between the primary wound and the donor site (cm), postoperative complications, and types of axial flap were collected. The patients had good joint movement at 6 months after pedicle amputation. At 48 hours after transplantation, except for the last patient (NO.5), there were no obvious complications such as blood supply disorder, infection, and incision dehiscence of the patients, and the flaps survived well. Just after pedicle amputation, 3 and 6 months after pedicle amputation, the flaps survived well with good local morphology. Forty-eight hours after operation, part of the distal flap in the last patient (NO.5) was necrotic. After 6 months of pedicle amputation, part of the flap was transferred to the distal wound again. At 6 months after pedicle amputation, these patients could accept local scars even though the scar of the last patient was obvious. The secondary pedicle amputation of the repair of distal defects with axial flap could avoid the compression of the vascular pedicle in the subcutaneous tunnel between the donor site and the primary wound, which may ensure the bold supply and increase the survival rate of the flap.