Endoscopic harvest of the medial gastrocnemius muscle flap: a cadaveric study

Management of exposed total knee prostheses with microvascular tissue transfer

“…[2][3][4][5] The medial gastrocnemius muscle flap represents the current ''gold standard'' for genicular soft tissue reconstruction. 6,7 Although most wounds around the knee can be managed by pedicled local flaps, 8,9 more complex defects may require the use of free flaps. 10,11 Both local and free flaps provide a robust local blood supply, 12 allowing for adequate distribution of antibiotics, exposure to humoral defenses, and vascular drainage to reduce the probability of failure due to infection.…”

A comparison study between endoscope‐assisted and the standard approach in the harvesting of the free rectus femoris muscle flap

“…The use of endoscope in surgery is now well established. Its usage in the harvesting of muscle flaps such as the gracillis (Hallock, 1999;Spiegel et al, 1998), latissimus dorsi (Missana & Pomel, 2007), gastrocnemius (Basmacioglu et al, 2002), pectoralis major (Chou et al, 2016;Turkman & Perks, 2005), rectus abdominis (Bass, Karp, Benacsquista, & Kasabian, 1995;Sawaizumi, Onishi, & Maruyama, 1996), and serratus anterior (Erdmann & Koegst, 2014) amongst others has been well described. Recent studies have extended the use of endoscope to endoscope-assisted perforator flap harvest.…”

“…These include a substantial reduction in incision length, no significant increase in the harvesting time, equivalent success rate, equal or fewer complications, and comparable costeffectiveness. Endoscopic harvesting of muscle flaps are well described for gracilis (Hallock, 1999;Spiegel, Lee, Trabulsy, & Coughlin, 1998), latissimus dorsi (Missana & Pomel, 2007), gastrocnemius (Basmacioglu et al, 2002), and pectoralis major (Chou et al, 2016;Turkman & Perks, 2005) amongst others, but so far there has been no description of endoscopic harvesting of the rectus femoris muscle as a free flap. We found that due to the constant anatomical structure of the muscle as well as its cylindrical shape, it is ideal to be harvested with the endoscope.…”