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Letter to the Editor| Volume 58, ISSUE 3, P374, April 2020

Maintaining the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) and inguinal ligament attachment in harvesting the vascularised iliac crest free flap with internal oblique

Published:February 27, 2020DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjoms.2020.01.019
      When I read the method of the above paper in detail it seemed likely that the ASIS would be included for <9 cm and >9 cm bone lengths as described by Taylor
      • Taylor G.I.
      • Townsend P.
      • Corlett R.
      Superiority of the deep circumflex iliac vessels as the supply for free groin flaps.
      although this was not clearly stated. As a result I was not surprised that the pain score for longer defects was higher (6.71 v 4.64, p value not included, Table 1), the time to walking (6.64 v 4.72 weeks p value 0.002, Table 2) longer, as well as abnormality of the donor site (very abnormal >9 cm 13/27(48%) v <9 cm 6/35(17%), Table 5) greater. It is stated in the results section that there was no difference between the two groups in severity and duration of pain, yet in the discussion the authors state that the degree of pain did correlate with the length of the iliac bone graft. They suggest that it is excessive muscular and subperiosteal dissection, and medial retraction that increases the morbidity to the donor site, but this was not formally assessed in this study and so remains speculative. These results do show a higher morbidity for grafts longer than 9 cms as would be expected, but in my view the alternative method of harvest with internal oblique has a potential to make a real difference to reducing the morbidity of the donor site and improving the vascularity and so reliability of the graft to heal and unite.
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      References

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