Propeller perforator flaps in forearm and hand reconstruction

After a long history in flaps' surgery, the perforator flaps became the most used flaps nowadays. From the beginning, their use as free flaps diminished substantially the donor site morbidity. In the attempt to not only diminish the donor site morbidity, but also to achieve more similar reconstructions, a new concept appeared 20 years ago: local perforator flaps. The local perforator flaps offer as main advantages the absence of microsurgical sutures ("microsurgical non-microvascular flaps"), same surgical field, the sparing of muscles and main vascular pedicles, and shorter hospitalization time. They can be used as V-Y advancement flaps, transposition flaps, propeller flaps, and keystone flaps (multiperforator flaps). The present study will refer to the use of local perforator flaps in forearm and hand reconstruction, and will point on the most important technical aspects of their harvesting, the main indications, advantages and disadvantages, and possible complications.