Crossover replantation after bilateral traumatic lower limb amputations: A case report

Introduction. Replantation of a limb to the contralateral stump after bilateral traumatic amputations is rare. To the best of our knowledge, there are only a few reports of crossover lower limb replantation in the literature. Case presentation. We treated a 37-year-old Chinese woman with bilateral lower limb crush injuries sustained in a traffic accident. Her lower limb injuries were at different anatomic levels. We performed emergency bilateral amputations followed by crossover replantation. Five years later, the woman had recovered well, and had perfect movement and stability in her replanted leg. After reviewing the literature, we thought that presentation of our patients case might provide useful information for clinicians. Conclusions: Crossover replantation should be considered when evaluating a patient with bilateral lower limb injuries, thus allowing the patient to touch the ground and stand using their own foot. © 2012 Fang et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.