Perfusion assessment of cutaneous flaps
Despite progressive medical and surgical as well as technical
developments, no technique has yet been found that permits a uniform,
simple valid and cost-effective intra-/ and postoperative flap perfusion
assessment. As a result, direct clinical assessment remains the gold
standard. [7, 8]
Clinical control of the grafted area should be based on the assessment
of skin colour, temperature, turgor and capillary time by trained
medical professionals. [9] Most trained head and neck surgeons
assess flap grafts by colour, recapillarisation, scratching (and the
quality of the blood) and some by flap surface temperature. [7, 10]
Similarly, surgical re-exploration can act as a valid way of clinically
assessing local and pedicled flaps. [11]