WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET - LACK OF SIGNIFICANT POSTOPERATIVE CONTOUR CHANGE IN MUSCLE TRANSPLANTS TO THE LOWER LEG

A widely held tenet in the reconstructive surgery literature is that m uscle transplants undergo significant postoperative atrophy, contribut ing to progressive improvement in appearance of the reconstruction. In contrast, it has been our experience that muscle transplants retain t he majority of their bulk following inset, and undergo minimal postope rative atrophy. Prospective evaluation of 20 patients undergoing muscl e transplant reconstruction of Gustillo type IIIB lower limb wounds fo und minimal decrease in limb circumference at 6-month follow-up, as me asured at the point of maximum transplant projection.