Prevention of complications and correction of postoperative problems in microsurgery of the lower extremity.

Prevention of complications in microsurgery of the lower extremities begins with proper patient selection and patient preparation. Complications are highest in elderly patients who have had multiple trauma, smokers, patients with arterial or venous insufficiency, and those with hypercoagulability. Some patients may be best served by primary amputation. If multiple flaps are required, a higher success rate can be achieved with simultaneous rather than sequential transfers. However, for simultaneous transfers, a higher re-exploration rate must be anticipated. The key to avoiding long-term problems with infection is adequate preparation of the wound. Multiple debridements may be necessary. If early coverage can be obtained in trauma cases, a lower rate of chronic osteomyelitis has been observed. Attention to details in the operating room, such as patient warmth and perfusion, will increase the success rate. Recipient vessels must be out of the "zone of injury" and normal in appearance and pulsatility. It is safer to use normal recipient vessels and vein grafts than to attempt anastomoses to vessels affected by "post-traumatic vascular disease." If thrombosis occurs in the early postoperative period, prompt re-exploration can result in flap salvage, with a high degree of predictability if the cause of the thrombosis can be determined and corrected.