Abstract
Purpose: The ischial area is by far the most common site of pressure sores found in wheel chair bound paraplegic patients, because greatest pressure is exerted from the body on this area in a sitting position. Even after a series of successful pressure sore treatments, the site is very prone to relapse by the simplest ordinary tasks of everyday life. Therefore, it is crucial to preserve the main pedicle during primary surgery. Various surgical procedures employed to treat pressure sores such as myocutaneous flap and perforator flap have been introduced. After introduction of ischial sore treatment using the inferior gluteal artery perforator (IGAP) has been made, the authors experienced favorable clinical results of patients who have undergone IGAP flap procedure in a three year time period. Methods: A total of 17 patients received IGAP flap surgery in our hospital from January 2003 to May 2006, among which 14 of them being males and 3 females. Surgery was performed on the same site again in 6(35%) patients who had originally relapsed after receiving the conventional method of pressure sore surgery. Patients' average age was 49.4(27-71) years old. Most of the patients were paraplegic(11 cases, 65%) and others were either quadriplegic(4 cases, 23%) or ambulatory(2 cases, 12%). Based on hospital records and clinical photographs, we have attempted to assess the feasibility and practicability of the IGAP flap procedure through comparative analysis of several parameters: size of defective area, treatment modalities, occurrence of relapses, complications, and postoperative treatments. Results: The average follow-up duration of 17 subjects was 25.4 months(5-42 months). All flaps survived without any necrosis. Six cases were relapsed cases from conventional surgical procedures. All of them healed well during our follow-up study. Postoperative complications such as wound dehiscence and fistula developed in some subjects, but all were well healed through secondary treatment. A total of 2 cases relapsed after surgery. Conclusion: The inferior gluteal artery perforator flap is an effective method that can be primarily applied in replacement to the conventional ischial pressure sore reconstructive surgery owing to its many advantages: ability to preserve peripheral muscle tissue, numerous possible flap designs, relatively good durability, and the low donor site morbidity rate.
