Impact of wound closure on fibular donor-site morbidity: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Vascularized free fibular flaps have been the “workhorses” for reconstruction of many kinds of bone defects. Nevertheless, there is no consensus regarding the optimal wound closure method for fibular donor sites. This study aimed to compare prognostic outcomes of primarily closures (PC) and skin grafts (SG) for fibular donor sites. METHODS: Studies regarding donor-site outcomes of PC versus SG in patients undergoing free fibular flap procedures were included. Two authors individually searched PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, Cochrane Library and clinicaltrials.gov up to February 2019, extracted the data and assessed quality of each selected article. Ultimately, The incidences of donor-site morbidities were evaluated. RESULTS: Five studies with a total of 119 patients were included in our analysis. No significant differences were found with respect to the rates of donor-site problems between the PC and SG groups. CONCLUSIONS: Fibular flap patients undergoing PC and SG wound closures may have similar donor-site outcomes. Additional large-scale studies are necessary to draw a solid conclusion. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12893-019-0545-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.