BACKGROUND The pedicled latissimus dorsi (LD) flap serves an important function in breast reconstruction, but its utility is limited by its inability to provide sufficient breast volume. OBJECTIVES The purpose of this preliminary report was to review the techniques and outcomes of utilizing fat-grafted, volume-enhanced LD flap transfer with fat grafting recipient sites in autologous breast re...

The distal third of the tibia, ankle and heel area is difficult to reconstruct. For small to medium size defects, local flaps are often an easier alternative than free flap. In lower limb surgery, the sural flap is based on this principle and this flap is becoming increasingly popular. The distally based superficial sural artery flap, first described as a distally based neuro skin flap by masqu...

We report our experiences with 283 reconstructions of pharyngoesophageal defects after adequate extirpation of hypopharyngeal cancer that have been ac complished in the past 17 years through 1970 to 1986 using various kinds of pedicled flaps such as Bakamjian's DP skin flap, slit technique of DP skin flap, pectoralis major and latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flaps, skin-grafted pectoralis major m...

The effect of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) on the survival of a dorsal musculocutaneous flap was studied in the rat. Postoperative TENS treatment significantly increased the flap survival area in groups of rats receiving different modes of TENS. The flap survival area was up to 95% in the TENS-treated groups compared with 33-45% in the control groups. Repeated (3 days) hig...

This study reviews reconstruction of complex three-dimensional oral and maxillofacial defects using the single free radial forearm flap or the single free rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap. Between 1996 and 2003, 124 patients underwent oral and maxillofacial reconstruction in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine. Outcomes for 22 pati...

A 67-year-old man with squamous cell carcinoma underwent reconstruction with a free anterolateral thigh myocutaneous flap. Unroofing the skin perforators found that the skin perforators originated from the oblique branch of the lateral circumflex femoral artery with no connections with the descending branch. Thus, the flap was harvested based on the oblique branch, leaving the descending branch...

Free tissue transfer is the gold standard of reconstructive surgery to repair complex defects not amenable to local options or those requiring composite tissue. Ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) is a known cause of partial free flap failure and has no effective treatment. Establishing a laboratory model of this injury can prove costly both financially as larger mammals are conventionally used a...

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this article, the participant should be able to: 1. Understand the epidemiology of skin cancer in a patient with preexisting skin cancer. 2. Understand the indications for the use of a nasolabial flap and nonanatomic alar strut graft. 3. Describe the blood supply to the nasolabial flap. The goals of reconstructing deformities of the face acquired secondary to ...

Reconstruction of the upper lip requires symmetrical reconstruction of hairy male skin according to the aesthetic principle. A moderate defect of the upper lip had nonhairy skin on the upper one-third and hairy skin on the lower two-thirds in a Korean man. A hairy preauricular free flap is useful for correcting superficial-thickness skin defects of the upper lip, when local and regional flaps a...