The reconstructive ladder is the set of levels of increasingly complex management of wounds in reconstructive
plastic surgery
Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes cranio ...
. The surgeon should start on the lowest rung and move up until a suitable technique is reached.
There are several small variations in the reconstructive ladder
[Orthop Clin North Am. 1993 Jul;24(3):393-409, The reconstructive ladder. An orthoplastic approach, L. Levin] in the scientific literature, but the principles remains the same:
# Healing by secondary intention
# Primary closure
# Delayed primary closure
# Split thickness graft
# Full thickness
skin graft
Skin grafting, a type of graft surgery, involves the transplantation of skin. The transplanted tissue is called a skin graft.
Surgeons may use skin grafting to treat:
* extensive wounding or trauma
* burns
* areas of extensive skin loss ...
# Tissue expansion
# Random
flap
# Axial flap
#
Free flap
See also
*
List of plastic surgery flaps Below is a list of common and eponymous plastic surgery flaps with their classification and common usage. ''(NB - the terms interpolation flap and pedicle flap can be used interchangeably.)''
List of flaps
See also
* Flap (surgery)
* Perforator ...
*
Perforator flaps
Perforator flap surgery is a technique used in reconstructive surgery where skin and/or subcutaneous fat are removed from a distant or adjacent part of the body to reconstruct the excised part. The vessels that supply blood to the flap are isolated ...
References
{{Reflist
Plastic surgery