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Functional Evaluation of Ankle Joint After 1-Stage Secondary Debulking Procedure After Flap Reconstruction

Objective Free or local flaps that are used to reconstruct the lower limb often result in poor functional outcome because of bulkiness of the flap and scar contracture over ankle joint region. The aim of this study was to evaluate the functional results of ankle joint after 1-stage secondary debulking procedure for lower limb trauma. Material and Methods From January of 2002 to October of 2018, debulking procedures were performed for 66 patients after flap reconstructions of the lower limb. Thirty-eight patients (group 1) of foot injury without ankle joint involvement and 20 patients (group 2) with ankle joint involvement were included. Range of motion (ROM) of ankle joint before and after debulking procedure was measured after 6 months of follow-up. Results After debulking procedure, all the patients were able to dress in their preinjury shoes without any difficulty and with ease of ambulation. For all patients, with or without ankle involvement, the postdebulking ROM versus predebulking ROM improved significantly (P < 0.01). The ROM improvements for patients with ankle involvement were significantly better then patients without ankle involvement (P = 0.032). Conclusions One-stage debulking procedure can provide long-term constant, reliable, thin skin coverage for the lower limb after flap reconstruction with improved ankle ROM. This allows better functional results, especially for lower limb trauma patients with initial ankle involvement.