• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.153-158
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• 2012

Purpose: The first web space of the foot has a similar thickness and skin texture of the pulp of the fingers. Moreover, it has a reliable blood vessel and sensory nerve. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical results of the first web space free flap to reconstruct the pulp of fingers. Materials and Methods: Authors have performed 23 cases of first web space free flap to reconstruct the pulp defect of the fingers between June 2004 and May 2009. The age of the patients ranged from 20 years old to 55 years old. The size of the flap ranged from $1{\times}1.5cm$ to $8.5{\times}2.5cm$. The mean flap area was 5.4 cm2. In 4 cases, we elevated the flap including lateral aspect of the big toe and medial aspect of the second toe. And then we made an artificial syndactyly to reconstruct the pulps on two fingers at the same time. In all cases, we performed 1 digital artery and 1 dorsal vein anastomosis. Every donor site that had a small defect healed spontaneously without any additional operations to cover it. Results: Of this type of surgery 21 flaps (91.3%) survived, 2 flaps (8.7%) failed. There was no severe complication in the donor sites. There was no walking disturbance due to the skin defect of the donor site. The static 2 point discrimination in 11 cases that we could check ranged from 3 mm to 15 mm. Conclusion: The authors believe that the first web space free flap of the foot is a good option for the reconstruction of the pulp of the fingers and it has a minimal donor site morbidity.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.89-92
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• 2011

Purpose: Electrical burn of scalp is uncommon. Much more, chronically exposed dura in unstable burn scar is quite exceptional. Hence, we report a case of chronically exposed dura following electrical burn. Methods: A 63-year-old man presented with an about 40 years history of an ulcerative lesion arising from electrical burn scar with 'squeeze like sensation' around wound. Wound was about $6{\times}8$ cm. Area in the center was $3{\times}3$ cm nonviable dura without sequestrum. Tangential excision with an intraoperative neurosurgical consultation and transposition flap under general anesthesia was done. Intraoperative biopsy was done. The wound was diagnosed as chronic osteomyelitis, not Marjolin ulcer. Flap was taken successfully. But after 5 days, infectious discharge had been appeared during 2 weeks, despite irrigation and drainage. As flap was re-evaluated, we could see remnant necrotic dura. After that, latissimus dorsi muscle free flap with meshed split thickness skin graft was transferred without excision of necrotic dura. Results: Flap was taken successfully. Follow-up at 10 weeks has been uneventful, with good and stable coverage of the wound. Conclusion: It is true that complete excision of devitalized tissue with sagittal sinus obliteration is prerequisite to flap taken. But necrotic dura was tangentially excised instead of total dura excision, because, posterior two-thirds of the sagittal sinus was involved underneath. Muscle is rich in blood vessels and decrease the recipient-site bacterial count effectively. In this case, muscle flap with skin graft without total dura excision is an alternative treatment.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.19-29
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• 2003

Soft tissue reconstruction of dorsum of the foot and ankle has long presented challenging problems for the reconstructive surgeon. Limitations of available local tissue, the need for specialized tissue, and donor site morbidity restrict the options. In an effort to solve these difficult problems, we have begun to use adipofascial flap based on the perforating branch of the peroneal artery. We present our early experience of 5 patients treated with this flap. Our patients ranged from 6 to 26 years in age and included 3 males and 2 females. The etiologies of the wounds were secondary to traffic accident, and crushing injury. The flaps had reverse flow in all patients. The flap and the adjoining raw area were covered with a full-thickness skin graft, while the donor site at the lateral aspect of the leg was closed primarily without grafting. The skin graft was taken from the inguinal area, which was closed primarily. Compared with other flap, this adipofascial flap is thinner, producing less bulkiness to the recipient site and minor aesthetic sequelae to the donor site. In our opinion, this flap is versatile, effective, and an addition to the armamentarium of the reconstructive surgeon for coverage of difficult wounds of the foot and ankle.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.193-196
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• 2008

Purpose: TRAM flap reconstruction has settled down as a common method for breast reconstruction after mastectomy. There are a few surgical contraindication in TRAM flap surgery. Previous abdominal liposuction has been a relative contraindication in TRAM flap surgery. The authors present 2 patients of successful breast reconstruction using pedicled TRAM flaps, who previously underwent abdominal liposuction. Methods: Case 1: A 48-year-old woman with a right breast cancer visited for mastectomy and breast reconstruction. Her past surgical history was notable for abdominal liposuction 15 years ago. Skin sparing mastectomy and breast reconstruction with a pedicled TRAM flap was performed. Case 2: A 45-year-old woman with a left breast cancer visited us for mastectomy and autologous breast reconstruction. 3 years ago, she had an abdominal liposuction and augmentation mammaplasty in other hospital. Nipple sparing mastectomy and breast reconstruction was done using pedicled TRAM flap. Results: One year after the reconstruction, partial fat necrosis was developed in one case but there was no skin necrosis or donor site complication in both patients. Conclusion: As aesthetic surgery becomes more popular, increasing numbers of patients who have a prior abdominal liposuction history want for autologous tissue breast reconstruction. In these patients, TRAM flap surgery will be also used for breast reconstruction. But, the warning of fat necrosis and the use of preoperative Doppler tracing to evaluate the abdominal perforator may be beneficial to patients who had abdominal liposuction recently.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.450-454
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• 2008

Purpose: From May 2000 to January 2008, We experienced the 10 cases of the thenar free flap for the coverage of the large volar soft tissue defect in the finger. Methods: The pedicles of the flap were the superficial palmar artery of radial artery and subcutaneous vein, and we anastomosed them to the digital artery and subcutaneous vein of the finger. Results: The average size of the flaps was $12cm^2$ and it was large enough to cover the entire color soft tissue defect of a phalanx or the defect of the neighbored phalanges. All of donor wounds were closed primarily. Conclusion: The color and skin texture of the flap was matched with the volar skin of the finger functionally and cosmetically and the debulking of the flap was not necessary. Other advantages were constant anatomic pedicle of the flap, minimal donor site morbidity, one operation field. We consider that the thenar free flap is another reliable and useful method for the reconstructing of the large volar defect of the finger especially at the situation of emergency.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.108-111
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• 2010

Purpose: In reconstructing a defect on the dorsum of the hand, there are many cases of extensor tendons exposed or even missing. The repaired or reconstructed tendons need relevant gliding environment for good functional recovery. The anterolateral thigh flap offers a vascular fascial component with large amounts that can be used for covering exposed tendons and we report a unique case of single-stage hand dorsum and gliding surface reconstruction. Methods: A 35-year-old man had severe post-traumatic scarring in his left dorsal hand and coverage of the flap with split-thickness skin graft has been done before. After scarred skin excision and extensor tendon graft for missed part, a free anterolateral thigh adipofascial flap was used to resurface the hand dorsum and to reconstruct a two-layer gliding surface of the extensor tendons. The extensor tendons were wrapped in the fascial component with the fat layer inside. Results: He had an uneventful postoperative course without infection, dehiscence and flap necrosis. Good overall functional recovery and tendon excursion were observed. He was also satisfied with postoperative appearance. Conclusion: A free anterolateral thigh adipofascial flap was used successfully for reconstruction of a two-layer tendon gliding surface to treat a patient with severe scarring in the dorsal hand.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.47-51
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• 2003

Background and Objectives: Oro-and pharyngocutaneous fistula after irradiation can lead to extensive wound necrosis and fetal complication such as carotid rutpure. So, there is a need to clean and cover the wound rapidly in these compromised patients. Pectoralis major myocutaneous (PMMC) flap has been presented for reconstruction of complex defects in these irradiated patients. We applied the double paddle PMMC flap for the simultaneous reconstruction of above complex defects and evaluated the it's clinical efficacy. Material and Methods: Retrospective chart review of three cases of simultaneous head and neck reconstruction after irradiation with double paddle PMMC. All patients received prior radiotherpy before development of complications. The double paddle PMMC flap was used for mucosal lining of the oral cavity and epithelial lining of external skin in 2 cases, for mucosal lining of the pharynx and epithelial lining of external skin in 1 case. Results: Considerable complications such as major flap necrosis or fistula did not occur in any of the cases, and simultaneous reconstruction was achieved in all cases without reoperations. Conclusion: Many extended defects such as oro-and pharyngocutaneous fistula involving cover and lining about the head and neck after irradiation can be rehabilitated by the double paddle pectoralis major myocutaneous flap.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.803-810
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• 2022

Objective: To investigate the clinical application of differential subsampling with Cartesian ordering (DISCO) contrast-enhanced (CE) magnetic resonance angiography for anterolateral thigh (ALT) flap transplantation, using operative findings as a reference. Materials and Methods: Thirty patients (21 males and nine females; mean age ± standard deviation, 45.5 ± 15.6 years) who were scheduled to undergo reconstruction with ALT flaps between June 2020 and June 2021 were included in the prospective study. Before ALT flap transplantation, patients were scanned using CE-DISCO imaging. All acquired DISCO images of the 60 lower limbs (both sides from each patient) were analyzed using maximum intensity projection and volume rendering methods. Two experienced radiologists were employed to examine the patterns of the lateral circumflex femoral artery (LCFA), its branches, and perforators and their skin termini, which were compared with the operative findings. Results: Using CE-DISCO, the patterns of the LCFA and its branches were clearly identified in all patients. Four different origins of the LCFA were found among the 60 blood vessels: type I (44/60, 73.3%), type II (6/60, 10.0%), type III (8/60, 13.3%), and type IV (2/60, 3.3%). Owing to a lack of perforators entering the skin, two patients did not undergo ALT flap transplantation. For the remaining 28 patients, the ALT flaps in 26 patients were successfully operated without flap reselection during the operation, while the remaining two patients underwent other surgical procedures due to the thin diameter of the perforator or injury of the perforator during the operation. The success rate of flap transplantation was 92.8% (26/28). All transplanted flaps exhibited good blood supply and achieved primary healing without infection or delayed healing. Conclusion: CE-DISCO imaging can be an effective method for preoperative perforator imaging before ALT flap transplantation.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.35-43
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• 1999

There are lots of reconstructive ways like direct closure, skin graft, local flap, regional flap, distant flap, free flap and so on. Microsurgical reconstruction is regarded as the last step in various reconstructive methods. So the failure of this last step causes the troublesome situation for both of patients and surgeon. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the problems in failed free flap surgery and to introduce the strategy of appropriate management in wound of free flap failure. We performed 252 cases of free flap surgeries from May, 1988 to June, 1998. Among these cases, we failed 9 cases of free flaps. Patients' age ranged from 19 to 63. There were 7 males and 2 females. Site of failure were 3 head and neck areas, 2 hands, and 4 lower extremities. However there was no failure in breast, trunk, buttock, and genitalia. 7 patients who had region of head and neck, and lower extremity underwent the second free flap surgery successfully in postoperative 4 to 16 days following debridement of necrotic tissue. However 2 patients who had region in hand were managed with conventional treatment like skin graft and distant flap. Vein grafts were needed in 3 cases of 7 second free flaps, and 1 patients needed sequentially-linked free flaps with two flaps. The second free flaps were inevitable for head and neck area because the large complex wound may cause the lifethreatening condition without immediate coverage with well vascularized flap. Lower extremity also needed second free flap for limb salvage. Hand could be managed with conventional method, even though healing time was quite delayed. We thought second free flap surgery in free flap failure cases should be performed with more careful preoperative evaluation and refined surgery. Success of second free flap surgery could recover the very difficult situation due to previously failed operation.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.162-166
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• 2002

The anterolateral thigh free flap was first reported by Song et al. in 1984 as a fasciocutaneous flap based on septocutaneous or musculocutaneous perforators of the lateral femoral circumflex vessel. It only becomes popular recently through confirmation of additional anatomy. For reconstruction of Achilles area defect, a thin flap is required to improve aesthetic and functional results. The anterolateral thigh free flap is relatively thin and can provide large skin area. It can be a useful option for reconstruction of Achilles area defect based on these characters. Since March 2002, we have successfully transferred 4 anterolateral thigh free flaps to reconstruct Achilles area defects and have attained good range of motion in this region. The anterolateral thigh free flap has many advantages and can be used for the reconstruction of Achilles tendon area defect.