Capillary measurement of lactate and glucose for free flap monitoring.

Summary Background It is reported that the salvage rate of free flaps is inversely related to the time interval between the onset of pedicle impairments and their clinical recognition. Monitoring of free flaps is therefore of major importance and clinical monitoring remains the most used technique because of lack of low-cost and non-invasive techniques. The authors suggested an efficient, simple and cheap technique to detect early thrombotic events in monitoring free flaps with skin paddle. Methods In this multicentre prospective study, measurements of capillary glucose and lactate in the flaps were done. These parameters were compared to standardized clinical monitoring during the first fi…