Reconstruction of major forehead soft tissue defects with adjacent tissue and minimal scar formation

Repair and reconstruction of soft tissue defects involving over 50% of the forehead using remaining forehead tissue has not been reported in the literature. The few existing reports mainly concern cases in which less than half of the forehead was involved. The forehead comprises one third of the face and with regard to its prominent position, it is one of the major contributing components to facial beauty. Considering the excellent color, thickness, and quality matching of the adjacent forehead skin, it is considered the ideal substitute for repair of forehead defects. Use of skin graft or free flaps for reconstruction of defects involving 50% or more of the forehead have not reported acceptable results because of the lack of similarity of the donor tissue with the remaining forehead tissue. In this study, we describe successful reconstruction of major forehead soft tissue defects of two thirds to three fourths of the forehead with use of a tissue expander and transverse supratrochlear pedicle flap in four patients who were diagnosed with giant hairy nevus. There were no serious complications such as hematoma, bleeding, infection, or flap necrosis. We recommend this technique for reconstruction of extensive forehead soft tissue defects.