THE DISTALLY BASED LATERAL ADIPOFASCIAL FLAP

The distally based lateral adipofascial flap can be based either on th e lowermost perforator or the anterior perforating branch of the peron eal artery avoiding sacrifice of the main peroneal artery. It has been used successfully to resurface soft tissue defects either on the late ral or medial aspect of the lower third of the leg in 13 cases. The si ze of these flaps varied from 2.0 cm x 5.0 cm to 4.5 cm x 15.0 cm in s ize. These cases had minimal donor site morbidity and had positive aes thetic results. The advantages were: 1. Choice of either the lowermost perforator or the anterior perforating branch giving a wide are of ro tation; 2. Preservation of the superficial peroneal nerve; 3. Primary closure of the donor site.