ISOTOPE PERFUSION AND INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY OF ARTERIALIZED, VENOUS FLOW-THROUGH AND PEDICLED VENOUS FLAPS

In an experimental study on the epigastric venous system of rats, we examined three types of venous flaps with regard to their perfusion and long-term results: arterialised venous flaps, flow-through venous flaps and venous island flaps. We documented afferent and efferent blood how with radiolabelled substances and blood distribution with infrared thermography. By measuring the surviving flap surfaces after 4 months, the relative success rate for each flap type was determined. The results show that in the chosen model the entire surface of the arterialised venous flap had a survival rate of 92.7%, the flow-through venous flap 62.4%, and the venous island flap about 31%, The venous island flaps had the worst distribution of intravenously injected (125)J-Fibrinogen, and it was significantly worse in ah types of venous flaps than in standard epigastric flaps; moreover, the clearance of intracutaneously injected Tc-99m was the lowest in venous island flaps. The infrared thermographic study showed that the blood in the arterialised venous flaps dispersed faster and over a larger area than in flow-through venous and island flaps. Given these results, we conclude that arterialised venous flaps are the safest form of venous flaps, whereas venous island flaps carry a high risk of partial or total necrosis.