Abstract:The head and neck region is important both functionally and aesthetically and its reconstruction poses a formidable challenge for plastic surgeons. A perforator flap is a flap of skin or subcutaneous tissue supplied by a vessel that perforates the deep fascia to gain access to flap. With improvement in our knowledge of the anatomy of blood supply to the skin, the perforator flaps have opened a whole new horizon for the plastic surgeon to choose flaps with better function and cosmesis. The locally available per… Show more
“…Only one (4.8%) case had a venous congestion probably due to pedicle compression or overzealous trimming of the flap; this congestion resulted in a minor tip necrosis of the flap that had little consequence on final outcome (►Figs. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. A wound dehiscence has been observed in one case (4.8%) but was unlikely to be related to the technique.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…After Hofer et al's first description of facial artery perforator flaps, 1 many groups have started using the technique or studying the anatomy of facial artery perforators 2,[5][6][7][8][9]13,15,26,27 with various modifications. The possibility of harvesting a customized flap based on a known pedicle, possibly innervated as well 3 is an evolution in facial reconstructive surgery.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…3 Since then, several descriptions have been presented of the facial artery perforator flaps, either as pure perforator flaps or as perforator-based flaps. 2,5,[7][8][9]13,14 The concept of one-stage nose reconstruction was also applied to lateral nasal artery perforators 15 and afterward even to the forehead flap, leading to the description of the supratrochlear artery perforator propeller flap. 4 These flaps combine the concept of perforator flap surgery with the propeller design and the freestyle technique to transform conventional multiple stages techniques into one-stage techniques.…”
Facial artery perforator flaps were first introduced by Hofer et al 1 in 2005 for reconstruction of perioral defects. 2 Hofer et al introduced the fascinating concept of perforator flaps in the face. We have then described the freestyle facial artery perforator flap for one-stage reconstruction of the nasal ala, 3 expanding the potential of these flaps and introducing the concept of one-stage nose reconstruction that we have later applied to the forehead flap too. 4 These flaps have prompted a great interest for the anatomy of the facial artery perforators 5,6 and for the applications of facial artery perforator flaps, which seem to have gained their place in face reconstruction. 2,5,[7][8][9] In this article, we report our long-term experience to provide an update after the first published article. Many times some techniques are lost to follow-up, while it is very useful to know if the authors have improved themand how-or abandoned them-and why.
Facial Artery AnatomyAlthough the exact position of a single perforator varies and requires accurate preoperative and intraoperative identification, perforator anatomy is still predictable and constant: the source arteries give their perforators to the skin in fixed areas of the body. A fixed area is a region where anatomical planes are firmly attached and do not glide, or glide less. This allows for vessel protection from shearing and for shorter and more direct course to the skin. 10 The facial artery sticks to this rule. It constantly gives off several perforators to the skin at the level of the nasolabial sulcus, a fixed area in the face.An average of 5.05 AE 0.86 facial artery perforators of more than 0.5 mm can be found above the mandible. The average diameter of these perforators at their origin from the facial artery is 0.96 AE 0.21 mm. Based on injection studies the territory that these perforators can supply has an average
AbstractIn 2009, we have described the use of freestyle facial artery perforator flaps for onestage nose reconstruction. Since then, several articles have reported the use of facial artery perforator flaps for nose reconstruction. The purpose of this article is to provide an update of the published technique after 10 years of experience. Since 2004, 21 patients have been treated with a freestyle facial artery perforator flap for one-stage reconstruction of the nasal ala. The flaps were 16 propellers, 4 V-Y, and 1 island transposition. A single venous congestion leading to a minor flap tip necrosis and a wound dehiscence was observed. All other flaps healed uneventfully. The V-Y design and multiple subunit reconstruction gave suboptimal results. It was concluded that indications for freestyle facial artery perforator flaps are total nasal alar subunit reconstruction or reconstruction of lateral alar defects when perforator anatomy allows. In these cases, freestyle facial artery perforator flaps are the first choice technique at our institution because they allow excellent results in one-stage operation. One-stage nasal ala reconstruction with...
“…Only one (4.8%) case had a venous congestion probably due to pedicle compression or overzealous trimming of the flap; this congestion resulted in a minor tip necrosis of the flap that had little consequence on final outcome (►Figs. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. A wound dehiscence has been observed in one case (4.8%) but was unlikely to be related to the technique.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…After Hofer et al's first description of facial artery perforator flaps, 1 many groups have started using the technique or studying the anatomy of facial artery perforators 2,[5][6][7][8][9]13,15,26,27 with various modifications. The possibility of harvesting a customized flap based on a known pedicle, possibly innervated as well 3 is an evolution in facial reconstructive surgery.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…3 Since then, several descriptions have been presented of the facial artery perforator flaps, either as pure perforator flaps or as perforator-based flaps. 2,5,[7][8][9]13,14 The concept of one-stage nose reconstruction was also applied to lateral nasal artery perforators 15 and afterward even to the forehead flap, leading to the description of the supratrochlear artery perforator propeller flap. 4 These flaps combine the concept of perforator flap surgery with the propeller design and the freestyle technique to transform conventional multiple stages techniques into one-stage techniques.…”
Facial artery perforator flaps were first introduced by Hofer et al 1 in 2005 for reconstruction of perioral defects. 2 Hofer et al introduced the fascinating concept of perforator flaps in the face. We have then described the freestyle facial artery perforator flap for one-stage reconstruction of the nasal ala, 3 expanding the potential of these flaps and introducing the concept of one-stage nose reconstruction that we have later applied to the forehead flap too. 4 These flaps have prompted a great interest for the anatomy of the facial artery perforators 5,6 and for the applications of facial artery perforator flaps, which seem to have gained their place in face reconstruction. 2,5,[7][8][9] In this article, we report our long-term experience to provide an update after the first published article. Many times some techniques are lost to follow-up, while it is very useful to know if the authors have improved themand how-or abandoned them-and why.
Facial Artery AnatomyAlthough the exact position of a single perforator varies and requires accurate preoperative and intraoperative identification, perforator anatomy is still predictable and constant: the source arteries give their perforators to the skin in fixed areas of the body. A fixed area is a region where anatomical planes are firmly attached and do not glide, or glide less. This allows for vessel protection from shearing and for shorter and more direct course to the skin. 10 The facial artery sticks to this rule. It constantly gives off several perforators to the skin at the level of the nasolabial sulcus, a fixed area in the face.An average of 5.05 AE 0.86 facial artery perforators of more than 0.5 mm can be found above the mandible. The average diameter of these perforators at their origin from the facial artery is 0.96 AE 0.21 mm. Based on injection studies the territory that these perforators can supply has an average
AbstractIn 2009, we have described the use of freestyle facial artery perforator flaps for onestage nose reconstruction. Since then, several articles have reported the use of facial artery perforator flaps for nose reconstruction. The purpose of this article is to provide an update of the published technique after 10 years of experience. Since 2004, 21 patients have been treated with a freestyle facial artery perforator flap for one-stage reconstruction of the nasal ala. The flaps were 16 propellers, 4 V-Y, and 1 island transposition. A single venous congestion leading to a minor flap tip necrosis and a wound dehiscence was observed. All other flaps healed uneventfully. The V-Y design and multiple subunit reconstruction gave suboptimal results. It was concluded that indications for freestyle facial artery perforator flaps are total nasal alar subunit reconstruction or reconstruction of lateral alar defects when perforator anatomy allows. In these cases, freestyle facial artery perforator flaps are the first choice technique at our institution because they allow excellent results in one-stage operation. One-stage nasal ala reconstruction with...
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