[Pedicled supraclavicular osteocutan island flap for tracheostoma closure]

Authors present a case of a 52-year-old female patient, who underwent an emergency tracheostomy due to life threatening dyspnoea caused by an external compression of a large goiter. Total thyreoidectomy needed to be carried out later, too. Since the atypical tracheostomy did not close spontaneously a reconstruction was planned. A part of the anterior wall of the trachea needed to be replaced, which was done by an osteocutaneous flap on raised on the supraclavicular artery. An island on the artery was harvested with a thin bone chip taken from the coracoid process of the clavicle, which was rotated into the defect then. The bone chip was sutured to the trachea wall and the donor site was closed primarily. Having reviewed the literature the authors propose the application of this flap in a wide range of cases. The advantages of this flap are the satisfactory functional and cosmetic results, as well as the fact that the donor site does not need skin grafting.