Posterior vault "free-floating" bone flap: indications, technique, advantages, and drawbacks
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 28, 2025
Donor Posterior Atrial Flap Rotation for Left Atrial Cuff Reconstruction in Lung Transplantation
Published on: October 11, 2024
Gianpiero Tamburrini1, Martina Offi1, Luca Massimi1
1Pediatric Neurosurgery, Institute of Neurosurgery, Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli, IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
Background:
The enlargement of the posterior cranial fossa volume is considered one of the main steps of the surgical management of children with multiple sutures craniosynostosis. Different management options have been proposed including fixed expansive craniotomy, free bone flap craniotomy, and distraction osteogenesis.
Objectives:
To review indications to "free bone flap" craniotomy for the posterior fossa expansion, detailing advantages, disadvantages, and complications related to the technique.
Results And Conclusions:
A review of the literature shows that "free bone flap" posterior expansion cranioplasty still has a role, particularly in infants with thin and "honeycomb" structure of the bone, allowing to gain adequate intracranial volume increases and to postpone to a more adequate time surgery aimed at anterior cranial fossa expansion.
