• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.60-63
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• 2007

Purpose: Free transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous(TRAM) flap is one of the most popular methods of breast reconstruction. But if fat necrosis and fatty induration occur at the reconstructed breast, they can make the breast harder and make it difficult to differentiate a tumor recurrence from them. To expect and prevent these complications, we measured the pressure change of the superficial venous system whose congestion can be the cause of them. Methods: An intraoperative clinical study was done to compare venous pressure of superficial inferior epigastric vein(SIEV) before and after the elevation of free TRAM flap. Fourteen TRAM flaps were included and the pressures of SIEV were measured two times at the beginning of the elevation and just before the division of the inferior pedicle. Results: The venous pressure in free TRAM flap was significantly higher after the flap elevation at both contralateral side and ipsilateral(p=0.005 and p=0.026 respectively). The four cases with vertical scar shower significantly greater increase at contralateral side than ipsilateral side(p=0.020). Conclusion: Intraoperative venous pressure recording can be an objective data for evaluating the congestion of TRAM flap and can help to prevent the complications of fat necrosis and fatty induration with venous superdrainage.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.88-92
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• 2010

The forefoot reconstruction is a challenging field for plastic surgeons. Weight bearing tolerability and stability are important factor of choosing reconstruction methods, but cosmetic aspect has to be considered. 51 year old man visited our clinic with extensive degloving injury on right forefoot by roller. The soft tissue defect started from metatarsal area to the toe tip including nails. We harvested the anterolateral thigh flap and transferred it to the forefoot defect area with nerve coaptation. The flap was successful without skin necrosis or other complications. Secondary flap debulking surgery was performed after ten months from initial operation. Patient was satisfied with functional and cosmetic outcomes. The patient was able to wear shoes and walk with adequate sensory recovery. As there is few report about reconstruction of forefoot soft tissue defects, we report a unique case of the anterolateral thigh innervated free flap reconstruction in degloving injury.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.213-216
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• 2021

Many surgeons have demonstrated the validity of sternocleidomastoid muscle flaps for the reconstruction of head and neck tumors. We present a case in which we used an island sternocleidomastoid muscle flap to reconstruct a cheek depression after excision of a malignant parotid tumor. A 44-year-old woman presented with a right malignant parotid tumor. We performed total resection of the parotid gland and facial nerve with the sural nerve and reconstructed the facial nerve and cheek depression with an island sternocleidomastoid muscle flap. The sternal head of the right sternocleidomastoid muscle was cut at the cranial and caudal segments to elevate it as an island flap. We used the superior thyroid artery as the sole pedicle for the island muscle flap. At 1 year and 3 months after the operation, the mimic muscles had gradually recovered and progressed without complications such as Frey syndrome, cervical motor dysfunction, or concave deformation of the neck and cheeks.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.153-155
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• 2023

The vascular anatomy of the deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP) flap has been well studied in the planning for autologous breast reconstruction. Preoperative imaging with computed tomography angiography (CTA) provides accurate assessment of this vascular anatomy, which varies widely across patients. Several papers to date have described their encounter with an anomalous "epiperitoneal" or "peritoneo-cutaneous" perforator during flap harvest, a perforator that pierces the posterior rectus sheath from a peritoneal origin, to traverse rectus abdominis and supply the DIEP flap integument. In the course of over 3,000 CTA assessments of the vascular anatomy of the abdominal wall, we have encountered dominant peritoneo-cutaneous perforators in 1% of cases, and smaller perforators seen in many more cases, approaching 5% of cases. With increasing sensitivity of imaging, we also describe a unique case of multiple large bilateral peritoneo-cutaneous perforators, and present these findings in the context of DIEP flap harvest. It is critical to recognize these peritoneo-cutaneous perforators preoperatively to avoid mistaking them for a DIEP during the raising of a DIEP flap. The routine use of preoperative CTA enables the safe identification of individual vascular anatomy, including significant peritoneo-cutaneous perforators.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.105-111
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• 2005

Perforator flaps have become increasingly popular in microsurgery nowadays and are being used widely for many cases of reconstruction after trauma and cancer ablation. And thoracodorsal perforator based free flap is one of them having the merits of carrying a large skin paddle with leaving intact innervation and function of the remaining latissimus dorsi muscle. We made a homogeneous thin flap excluding the main muscle with a long vascular pedicle and tried to decrease the donor site morbidity. But, it needs a long learning-curve and we have met marginal flap necrosis frequently. Besides, prolonged operation time for complete perforator dissection may be a tedious job to the microsurgeon. To overcome these disadvantages, we usually included very small portion of the latissimus dorsi muscle during this flap elevation around the pedicled 2-3 thoracodorsal perforators during this flap elevation. We performed 3 cases of thoracodorsal perforator based free flap at Hallym university sacred heart hospital between May and August 2005 for the soft tissue defect of the scalp and feet. The average flap size was $8{\times}14\;cm$. Although it is not a true perforator flap, we can get the reliability for the flap survival with much better blood circulation and save the time of one or two hours to dissect the perforators completely. All cutaneous flaps survived completely without any complication except one fatty female who had the very small superficial fat necrosis due to flap bulkiness. We believe the thoracodorsal perforator based free flap can be extended its versatility and reliability by including the very small portion of the muscle around the perforators.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.37
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• pp.40.1-40.7
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• 2015

Surgical procedures for parotidectomy had been developed to gain adequate approach, prevent morbidity of nerve, and give esthetic satisfaction. We performed two cases of parotidectomy through facelift incision. One case was reconstructed with superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS) flap and sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle rotated flap at the parotid bed. In second case, same procedures were performed, but collagen membrane was additionally implanted for prevention of Frey's syndrome. After surgery, two cases showed esthetic results without neck scar and hollow defect on parotid bed area.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.309-312
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• 2016

Patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP) must undergo corrective surgeries during infancy and early childhood. Many patients with CLP undergo orthognathic surgery during their childhood for correction of skeletal asymmetries or pharyngoplasty with a pharyngeal flap to improve the quality of speech and velopharyngeal function. During orthognathic surgeries, nasotracheal intubation is performed under general anesthesia. In our case report, the patient had undergone palatoplasty and pharygoplasty previously. During the orthognathic surgery, a flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope-guided nasotracheal tube was inserted through the pharyngeal flap ostium; however, active bleeding occurred in the nasopharynx. Bleeding occurred because the flap was torn. After achieving hemostasis, the surgery was completed successfully. Thus, if a patient may show the potential for velopharyngeal port obstruction, nasotracheal intubation should be performed with utmost care.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.81-85
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• 2001

In the treatment of urethral stricture, many problems still remain with the current methods making it a field of further exploration for reconstructive surgeon. Furthermore, when total or multiple strictures of the penile urethra exist, the methods of surgery become difficult due to a necessity for a long neourethra. Introduction of vascularized free flap has broadened the choice and improved the results of reconstruction for the urethra. The authors used a sensate ulnar forearm free flap in a patient with multiple penile urethral strictures for reconstruction. Uroflowmetry, 30 months after surgery, revealed that maximal flow rate was 15.5 ml/sec, average flow rate was 9.5 ml/sec, and voided volume was 157 ml. A urethrogram was performed 30 months postoperatively and a good result was achieved. The ulnar forearm free flap used by the authors are thin and pliable and is good for providing sufficient length to reconstruct the neourethra for a long urethral defect.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.82-85
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• 2013

If the replantation on the original position is not possible, the amputated tissue of a hand may be used as a donor for recovering hand functions at other positions. This procedure is termed 'heterodigital replantation'. An 63-year-old male patient who was in press machine accident came to Our Hospital. He had large dorsal soft-tissue defects ($5{\times}3cm$) on his left long finger and complete amputation on his left index finger through the proximal interpharyngeal joint. Replantation was not indicated because crushing injury of index finger was severe. So we decided to use index finger soft tissue as heterodigital free flap for the coverage of the long finger defect. The ulnar digital artery and dorsal subcutaneous vein of the free flap were anastomosed with the radial digital artery and dorsal subcutaneous vein of the long finger. The heterodigital free flap provided satisfactory apperance and functional capability of the long finger. The best way to treat amputation is replantation. But sometimes surgeon confront severely crushed or multi-segmental injured amputee which is not possible to replant. In this situation, reconstructive surgeons should consider heterodigital free flap from amputee as an option.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.150-153
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• 2012

Hemophilia B is a rare blood coagulation disorder. Complications such as bleeding and hematoma can cause necrosis of flaps, wound disruption, and the disturbance of wound healing. In particular, guidelines for flap operations in hemophilia B patients have still not been defined, and case reports are rare. We reconstructed the heel of a 41-year-old male hemophilia B patient using a reverse sural artery flap operation. The patient presented with mild hemophilia, having 27% of the normal value of coagulation factor IX. Coagulation and the changing value of the coagulation factor were regularly measured, and 70% of the normal value of coagulation factor IX was maintained through the injection of recombinant coagulation factors and antihemorrhagics. Hematoma developed twice (postoperative day [POD] 5 and POD 7) and in each case the hematoma was removed. Injections of recombinant coagulation factors and antihemorrhagics were continuously administered until postoperative week 2. When the coagulation factors were within normal ranges. In this article, a hemophilia B patient underwent reverse sural artery flap surgery and the healing progress was analyzed. We conclude that higher than baseline levels of coagulation factors are needed for successful healing in reverse sural artery flap surgery.