Anconeus muscle flap for the treatment of soft tissue defects over the olecranon after total elbow arthroplasty

摘要

Dear Sir, A 61-year-old female underwent a Coonrad-Morrey total elbow arthroplasty (TEA) through a posterior approach for severe involvement of the elbow joint due to psoriatic arthritis. No complications occurred during the perioperative period. At 6-weeks postoperatively, however, the skin over the olecranon dehisced, leaving a 1.0 x 1.2 cm skin defect (Fig 1). The underlying olecranon was exposed. There was no associated infection. Closure of the soft tissue defect was required but the poor quality of the surrounding skin precluded the use of a local skin flap. It was thought appropriate to select the ipsilateral anconeus as a muscle flap for soft tissue coverage of the defect.