Article

The thigh as a model for free style free flaps.

Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, 199 Tung Hwa North Road, Taipei, Taiwan.
Clinics in Plastic Surgery (impact factor: 1.42). 08/2003; 30(3):473-80. pp.473-80
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT Following a set of principles, free style free flaps may be harvested from any region of the body where a Doppler signal is heard. By using a retrograde dissection technique, the skin vessel is traced through its subfascial course (intramuscular or septocutaneous), until adequate length or vessel size is achieved. If a "free style free flap" is not originally planned, this approach can be usedwhen anatomic variations or unexpected events are encountered. The thigh, a region that is familiar to the surgical team at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, was chosen as the site to begin exploring this style of flap harvest. Nine flaps were harvested as free style free flaps from the thigh and were used successfully for the reconstruction of complex defects.

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Keywords

Chang Gung Memorial Hospital
 
complex defects
 
Doppler signal
 
familiar
 
flap harvest
 
free style free flap
 
free style free flaps
 
intramuscular
 
retrograde dissection technique
 
surgical team
 
unexpected events