• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.421-427
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• 2005

Although the incidence of mediastinal wound infection in patient undergoing median sternotomy for cardiovascular surgery is relatively low(less than 1%), it is not only a devastating and potentially life-threatening complication but also associated morbidity, mortality and cost are unacceptably high. During the past few decades various methods had been applied for the treatment of postoperative mediastinitis. Currently, chest wall reconstruction by using muscle flaps-especially pectoralis major muscle and rectus abdominis muscle are commonly selected for the reconstruction after wide debridement has become widely accepted. We performed bilateral pectoralis major-rectus abdominis muscles in-continuity bipedicle flap to overcome the limit of each flap for reconstruction of sternal defects in 17 patients. We analyzed the results of the surgery. Recurrent infection developed in 17.6% of cases and abdominal herniation was observed in one patient. There was no postoperative hematoma or death. We conclude that this flap is very valuable in reconstruction of the anterior chest wall defect caused by post-sternotomy infection because it provides sufficient volume to fill the entire mediastinum, and the complication rate compares favorably to that of other methods.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.97-102
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• 2009

Purpose: To close anterior cranial base, various types of pedicle flaps have been developed previously. However, the results of those pedicle flaps were not constant. To solve such problem, the author designed bipedicle temporalis-pericranial (BTP) flap based on various types of existing flaps and this study intends to introduce this flap and present clinical application case. Methods: The pedicle of the proposed temporalis-pericranial flap is temporalis muscle. The point of this BTP flap is that because of both sides of the unilateral temporalis-pericranial flap are connected by midline pericranial tissue connected with dense vascular network communicate one another locally, that BTP flap can be safely elevated. The case is a 14 months old male patient of frontoethmoidal encephalomeningocele. Surgery was done in a way that after elevating BTP flap and removing encephalomeningocele, BTP flap was moved intracranially, and to prevent cerebrospinal fluid leakage, anterior cranial base was closed. Results: During 1 year and 6 month outpatient tracking observation, no particular finding like CSF leakage, meningitis or hydrocephalus was observed. Conclusion: The benchmarked BTP flap, effective in the treatment of frontoethmoidal encephalomeningocele, is one of the methods to close intracranium and extracranium.