Study and Modeling of Perforator Flap Vascularization

Launched by UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, MONTPELLIER · Jul 17, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying a type of reconstructive surgery that helps repair damaged skin and tissue, often after injuries, infections, or surgery for cancer. The surgery uses pieces of skin and fat called “perforator flaps,” which are supplied with blood through small blood vessels. These flaps can be moved from one part of the body to another without taking muscle, which helps reduce complications where the tissue is taken from. The study aims to better understand how blood flows through these flaps during surgery, which is currently not well known because most information comes from studies on deceased donors and doesn’t account for factors like body temperature or blood pressure.

Adults between 18 and 70 years old who need this type of surgery may be eligible. Specifically, patients with pelvic wounds (called eschars) who will have a flap connected to nearby blood vessels, or those with traumatic injuries to their arms or legs who will have a flap moved completely to a new area with its own blood supply, can join. To take part, the flap used must be large enough for the researchers to observe blood flow clearly. Participants will be closely monitored during their surgery to gather information about how blood moves through these flaps, which could help improve surgical techniques and outcomes in the future. It’s important to note that people must give consent, have social security coverage, and not be involved in other conflicting studies to join.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Age between 18 and 70
• • Reconstructive surgery using pedicled perforating flap or free perforating flap.
• • Flap with a surface area of at least 50 cm2 (in order to have a sufficiently large surface area for good perfusion visualization)
• • Pedicled perforating flaps group: Patients with pelvic eschar
• • Free perforating flaps group: Traumatic pathology of the lower and/or upper limb
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • No consent obtained
• • No social security affiliation
• • Persons under court protection
• • Persons participating in another study with an exclusion period still in progress