Summary

The Morel-Lavallée lesion is a closed degloving injury that usually occurs following high-energy trauma. We present a case demonstrating endoscopic management of this lesion. A 44-year-old man fell from scaffolding. Initial assessment demonstrated no significant injury. An ultrasound scan 2 days post injury revealed a large fluid collection along the lateral right thigh. This subsequently became infected and did not respond to antibiotic therapy.

Due to the extent of the lesion, we were reluctant to perform a traditional open drainage. An endoscopic probe was inserted at the proximal and distal poles of the lesion and the wound debrided.

This resulted in a rapid improvement in symptoms and a complete resolution of the lesion at 1 year postsurgery, with no wound-associated morbidity.

This is only the second description of endoscopic debridement of a large, acute Morel-Lavallée lesion, with an excellent outcome.