Paraspinous Muscle Flaps for the Treatment of Complex Spinal Wounds.

Retrospective case series.To investigate the efficacy and complication profile of the use of paraspinous muscle flaps for closure of complex spinal wounds.Paraspinous muscle flap closure offers an innovative option in difficult-to-manage post-spinal surgery wounds. Current literature reports are mixed in terms of success and complication rates of these flap procedures, with most sources citing a wound complication rate of 20%.This case series investigated the hospital course of 58 patients undergoing paraspinous flap closure after spinal surgery between the years 2014-2018. Information gathered includes: demographics, surgery indication, location and length of incision on the spine, nutrition labs, previous spinal surgeries, pre-operative wound class, operative times, length of hospital stay, and complication rates including reoperation, wound infection, and other post-operative complications.Of the 58 patients undergoing spinal muscle flap closure, 51 (87.93%) had undergone previous spinal surgery with an average of 2.12 previous surgeries in these patients. Mean albumin and prealbumin were 2.62 and 13.75 respectively. 4/58 (6.90%) developed a wound infection or experienced a continuation of their chronic osteomyelitis. Of the 57 patients that had spinal instrumentation, 3 (5.26%) had spinal implants removed at the time of surgery and 2 (3.51%) had it removed or replaced later for mechanical complications. No patients had instrumentation removed for chronic infections. 1 (1.72%) experienced reoperation for wound-related complications. These rates are lower than most complication rates in the current literature.The plastic and reconstructive paraspinous muscle flap has promising results as a closure option for complex spinal wounds following neurosurgical cases. Further investigation is called for to determine the applicability of these results to the general population.4.