BACKGROUND Microvascular reconstruction for oncologic defects is a challenging and rewarding endeavor, and successful outcomes are dependent on a multitude of factors. This study represents lessons learned from a personal prospective experience with 100 consecutive free flaps. METHODS All patients' medical records were reviewed for demographics, operative notes, and complications. RESULTS O...

Objective: Abdominal based free flaps such as the Transverse Rectus Abdominis Myocutaneous (TRAM) flap and Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator (DIEP) flap are essential tools in the reconstructive armamentarium post mastectomy. These reconstructions are often prolonged, complex and associated with complications. This study aims to compare the complication rate, particularly focusing on perioper...

BACKGROUND Free flaps have a distinct role in a select group of patients with large abdominal wall defects. They offer a completely autologous reconstructive solution in a single stage for difficult abdominal wounds for which pedicled flaps would be inadequate. METHODS From 1996 to 2005, five patients with complex abdominal wall defects underwent reconstruction using free flaps. All patients ...

Soft tissue coverage of distal medial ankle wounds is a challenging problem in orthopedic surgery because of the limited local tissues and prominent instrumentation. Traditionally, these wounds required free tissue transfer to achieve suitable coverage and subsequent bony union. To better respect the reconstructive ladder and to avoid the inherent difficulty of free flap coverage, rotational fl...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to determine the causes of head and neck free flap loss and to evaluate outcomes after subsequent microvascular and non-microvascular reconstruction. METHODS Patients who experienced free flap loss between 2000 and 2012 were reviewed. RESULTS There were 40 flap losses out of 3090 free flaps (1.3%). Twenty-eight patients underwent subsequent free flap...

BACKGROUND Free and pedicled medial and lateral thigh-based flaps are common reconstructive procedures. However, there have been no comparative studies of morbidity between medial and lateral donor sites. METHODS We conducted an Enterprise Data Warehouse-based review of all the senior authors' (R.D.G., G.A.D., and M.S.A.) thigh-based free and pedicled flaps. Patient demographic data, donor-si...

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether contour abnormalities of the abdomen after breast reconstruction with abdominal flaps are related to the harvest of the rectus abdominis muscle. Abdominal contour was analyzed in 155 women who had breast reconstruction with abdominal flaps; 108 women had free transverse rectus abdominis muscle (TRAM) flaps, 37 had pedicled TRAM flaps, an...

OBJECTIVE To determine the outcome of microvascular free tissue transfer with or without use of postoperative heparin in terms of flap viability and postoperative complications. STUDY DESIGN Quasi-experimental study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Department of Plastic Surgery, King Edward Medical University, Lahore, from July 2010 to July 2012. METHODOLOGY Thirty eight patients requiring el...

Inadequate venous drainage can lead to congestion and necrosis of flaps used in the repair of defects, thereby elevating the risk of flap failure. In this study, we sought to test the hypothesis that the venous drainage was better in flow-through flaps than in conventional dorsalis pedis free flaps used in the repair of dorsal foot defects. In this retrospective study, we investigated the data ...

Obviously, restoring the nasal lining is a great challenge in the reconstruction of nasal defects. Full thickness nasal defects usually require special flaps for reconstructing the nasal lining. Intranasal mucosal flaps, hinge over flaps, perinasal second flaps, folded or second forehead flaps and finally free flaps are examples that can be used for this purpose. Moreover, the case presented in...