Design and clinical application of postoperative marker system of perforator flap

Objective To investigate the design of the postoperatively marker system based on the perforator flap and its clinical application. Methods According to the basic anatomy and blood supply characteristics of perforator flap, the observation points were marked on the flap surface and recipient area postoperatively, and judge flap blood flow changes with hand-held Doppler(HHD) and clock-face measurement based on perforators. From November, 2015 to November, 2017, prospectively conducted a control study evaluating the incidence of vascular crisis, accuracy rate, reoperation rate and survival rate of flaps between simple traditional flap monitoring group (n=100) and traditional flap monitoring combine with postoperatively marker system monitoring group (n=100). Results Vascular crisis was mostly concentrated with in 48 h postoperative in traditional flap monitoring group and combined group. There was no significant difference in the incidence, positive rate and negative rate of vascular crisis in the two groups (P>0.05). The reoperation rate in the traditional flap monitoring group (87.5%) was higher than the combined group (27.8%)(P<0.01). The survival rate of flap of combined group (99%) was higher than the traditional falp monitoring group (90%) (P<0.05). Conclusion The postoperatively marker system of perforator flap can effectively guide the medical staff to observe the blood supply of the flap, detect and judge the vascular crisis in time, and It is simple and easy to do without increasing the patient’s trauma and medical expenses as well as no additional equipments. Key words: Perforator flap; Postoperatively marker; Hand-held Doppler ultrasound; Vascular crisis