Reconstruction of Soft Tissue Defects on the Face, Neck, and Chest by Expanded Cervico-Acromial Flap

Abstract

Background: Repairing the defects of face and neck remains a big challenge for plastic surgeons. Here we present a case series of preexpanded cervico-acromial flaps in the repair of soft tissue defects. Method: This is a retrospective study that a total of 126 patients between 2001 and 2019 were included. One patient was excluded since he did not complete the treatment. All patients were followed for at least 0.5 years (range: 0.5-4 years, mean 2.50 years) after surgery.Results: All patients are satisfied with the appearance. The color and texture of expanded flaps were similar to surroundings. One patient (0.8%) had complete necrosis and received skin grafts. The size of cervico-acromial was 26-10 Â 14-6 cm (mean, 15.389 AE 2.701Â 8.341 AE 1.075 cm). The time of operation during stage 1 was 59.254 AE 9.895 minutes, 96.912 AE 18.936 minutes during stage 2, and 38.146 AE 9.478 minutes during stage 3. Surgical complication rate was 14.3%, given that 18 patients had complications following the surgery. Conclusions: The cercico-acromial flap is a reliable and multifunctional method for face, neck, and chest reconstruction.

Expansion Technique for Reconstruction of Craniofacial Defect after Plexiform Neurofibroma Excision

“…23 Besides random flaps, expansion technique also applies to island flaps, such as superclavical flap, medial upper arm flap, forehead flap and so on. 24,25 The expanded flap has the advantages of an excellent color and thickness match to the defect, a reliable blood supply, abundant tissue and negligible donor-site morbidity. It has thus become our favourite technique for craniofacial reconstruction.…”

“…Experimental work showed a 117% increase in vascularity compared with a random pattern flap 23 . Besides random flaps, expansion technique also applies to island flaps, such as superclavical flap, medial upper arm flap, forehead flap and so on 24,25 . The expanded flap has the advantages of an excellent color and thickness match to the defect, a reliable blood supply, abundant tissue and negligible donor-site morbidity.…”