Tunneled and transposed island flaps in facial reconstructive surgery

Surgical wounds on the central face present reconstructive challenges given the aesthetic prominence of these visually important areas and a general lack of local tissue availability.

Illustrative case examples demonstrate the potential clinical utility of nontraditional island flaps that are tunneled or transposed into operative defects.

Aesthetically successful reconstruction of difficult facial wounds was accomplished with island flaps that used less traditional operative designs.

When designed and executed properly, island flaps offer unrivaled opportunities to reconstruct the face with maximal preservation of central facial symmetry.