The reconstructive ladder is a term coined by reconstructive plastic surgeons to describe levels of increasingly complex management of wounds.^[1]

[edit] The ladder

There are several small variations in the reconstructive ladder^[2][3] in the scientific literature, but the principles remains the same:

Rung 1: healing by secondary intention
Rung 2: primary closure
Rung 3: delayed primary closure
Rung 4: split thickness graft
Rung 5: full thickness skin graft
Rung 6: tissue expansion
Rung 7: random pattern flap
Rung 8: pedicled flap
Rung 9: free flap

[edit] References