A surgical flap procedure using tissue from the glutes can improve blood flow and provide reliable healing of sacral pressure ulcers, according to a Chinese study.
Researchers observed 20 patients, ages ranging from 27 to 67, in the Department of Burns and Plastic Surgery at the Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University. All had Stage 3 or Stage 4 sacral pressure ulcers.
During a five-year window, each of the patients had positive results following repair with a superior gluteal artery perforator island flap. In the procedure, skin and fatty tissue are harvested from the upper buttock. The superior gluteal artery provides veins larger than 3 to 4 millimeters in size.
The flap technique has been used extensively in breast reconstruction for more than a decade.
The flap covers pressure ulcers and creates new blood supply.
“The flap can carry a little muscle to increase the anti-infective ability,” the researchers reported in May’s Chinese Journal of Burns.
Two years out, 18 of 20 patients reported the flaps remained “in good shape,” with no complications such as seroma at the donor site.
