[Subcutaneous "wash-out" in extravasations]

Abstract

Extravasations of chemotherapeutic drugs may lead to large soft-tissue losses in the hand and forearm and necessitating surgical excision with secondary flap coverage. Unfortunately, a delayed referral to a hand and plastic surgical unit with an already established soft-tissue defect is most common. Nevertheless, in our unit the method of choice is early emergency subcutaneous "wash-out", which facilitates dilution and reduction of concentration of the extravasation and therefore reliably avoids the development of soft-tissue defects. The aim of this paper is to present the surgical technique.