Deltopectoral flap revisited for reconstruction surgery in patients with advanced thyroid cancer: a case report

We present the cases of 2 patients with invasive thyroid cancer, who underwent reconstructive surgery using a deltopectoral flap. Although the overall rate of extrathyroidal extension in patients with thyroid cancer is quite low, skin invasion is the most common pattern observed. Reconstructive surgery, involving local skin flaps, is required in these patients. The deltopectoral flap relies on the blood supply from intercostal perforators of the internal thoracic artery and usually requires skin grafting to the donor site. The internal thoracic artery is rarely sacrificed in these cases, even in an advanced surgery such as in patients with invasive thyroid cancer.

A 55-year-old man with a distended thyroid gland presented to our hospital. He underwent advanced surgery, including skin excision, because we suspected that his tumor was thyroid cancer. The defect was covered with an ipsilateral deltopectoral flap via transposition of the flap, without skin grafting. In the second case, a 67-year-old woman with thyroid cancer that metastasized to her neck lymph nodes presented to our institution. Although the ipsilateral internal thoracic artery was sacrificed near its origin during tumor resection, the deltopectoral flap was raised in the usual manner without any complications. The skin defect caused by the tumor resection was covered with the flap. The patient had an uneventful clinical course for more than 2 years of follow-up. These 2 cases show the effectiveness of using the deltopectoral flap as a reconstructive option for patients with thyroid cancer who underwent radical surgery, resulting in a skin defect. The first case shows that this flap does not always require skin grafting to the donor site. To our knowledge, the second case may be the first report of a deltopectoral flap that was safely raised and applied with resection of the bifurcation of the ipsilateral internal thoracic artery.

Although thyroid cancer surgery with surrounding skin excision is a rare procedure, we found that the deltopectoral flap was useful and should be the first choice for patients undergoing reconstructive surgery, whether the bifurcation of the ipsilateral internal thoracic artery is sacrificed.