Excision and flap closure of a groin and upper thigh lesion
A lesion of the groin and upper thigh excised widely and the resulting defect closed with a local flap over a suction drain.
Flap reconstruction · Lower limb · Adult · Male · 4 min read
- Mechanism
- Placeholder — diagnosis and mechanism to be supplied
- Anaesthesia
- General
- Stages
- Single stage
Presentation
The patient presented with a lesion of the groin and upper thigh requiring wide excision. The difficulty in this region is not the excision but what follows it: the groin moves with every step, sits in a crease, and is difficult to keep clean, so a closure under tension there breaks down.
A lesion of the groin extending onto the upper thigh, with the planned excision margin marked pre-operatively. Surrounding thigh skin was uninvolved and mobile, giving a local flap option for closure once the defect size was known.
Procedure
The lesion was excised with the planned margin and the defect closed with a local flap raised from the adjacent thigh, rather than pulling the wound edges together under tension. A suction drain was placed: the groin has dead space that collects, and a collection in a crease that cannot be kept dry becomes an infected wound.
- AssessmentLesion assessed and excision margins marked
- OperationWide excision, local flap raised and inset over a drain
Outcome
The defect was closed in a single stage with a local flap and a drain sited. Histology, healing and follow-up are placeholder and await the surgeon’s records.
Clinical images are blurred until you choose to view them. Each is labelled with its timepoint.
Placeholder — to be replaced with the patient’s own words, given with consent.
Surgeon's note
Closing a groin defect under tension is the mistake this operation is designed to avoid. The wound is in a crease, it moves constantly, and tension plus movement plus moisture is how a clean excision turns into a wound that takes months. Raising a local flap costs a longer scar and buys a closure that holds.
Consent
CONSENT PENDING — this photograph is published for build purposes only and must not go live until written consent is on file.
These cases are published for clinical and educational purposes. Every patient, injury and recovery is different: the results shown are individual outcomes and are not a prediction or guarantee of the result of any other person’s treatment. All surgery carries risk, which is discussed in full during consultation.
