Related Experiment Videos
[The scapular free flap crossing the dorsal midline]
Zhonghua Zheng Xing Shao Shang Wai Ke Za Zhi = Zhonghua Zheng Xing Shao Shang Waikf [I.E. Waike] Zazhi = Chinese Journal of Plastic Surgery and Burns
|October 12, 2001
Abstract
Objective:
A large defect needs a large flap to repair. This clinical study was to explore the possibility and safeness of transferring the extended scapular free flap.
Method:
We have used the transverse scapular flap to reconstruct large defects in the mandibular or cervical region in 8 patients. The flap was designed to cross the midline of the back as far as 15 cm. The largest flap measured 31 x 34 cm.
Results:
Of the 8 flaps, six survived completely; local epidermal necrosis appeared in two.
Conclusion:
The free scapular flap supplied by a single circumflex scapular vascular pedicle can be safely extended beyond the midline of the back. The flap axis is the horizontal branch of the circumflex scapular vessel.