As the field of medical oncology has evolved, chemotherapeutic agents in various combinations and as adjuvants to other treatment modalities have been used to treat many malignant conditions and have produced cures or remissions with alleviation of symptoms. These bioactive agents usually require intravenous administration and carry the increased potential for inadvertent extravasation, which may cause severe cellular damage and result in chronic, painful, slowly growing wounds. Such complications may be responsible for marked functional disability and discomfort in a debilitated patient who is already coping with a major disease. The sequelae of an extravasation ulcer may be more disabling than the patient's primary illness.

From the Division of Plastic Surgery, Cora and Webb Mading Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas