Free tissue coverage of chronic traumatic wounds of the lower leg.

Thirty-eight consecutive patients who underwent 42 free flaps for chronic wounds of the lower leg were identified over an 11-year period. All wounds were open for a minimum of 1 month (mean, 40 months; median, 8 months; range, 1 month to 30 years). The average age was 37 years (range, 7 to 68 years), there were 31 male patients and seven female patients, and the average follow-up time was 30 months (range, 12 to 72 months).