ObjectiveTo explore the effectiveness of the modified designed bilobed latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap in chest wall reconstruction of locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) patients.MethodsBetween January 2016 and June 2019, 64 unilateral LABC patients were admitted. All patients were female with an average age of 41.3 years (range, 34-50 years). The disease duration ranged from 6 to 32 months (mean, 12.3 months). The diameter of primary tumor ranged from 4.8 to 14.2 cm (mean, 8.59 cm). The size of chest wall defect ranged from 16 cm×15 cm to 20 cm×20 cm after modified radical mastectomy/radical mastectomy. All defects were reconstructed with the modified designed bilobed latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flaps, including 34 cases with antegrade method and 30 cases with retrograde method. The size of skin paddle ranged from 13 cm×5 cm to 17 cm×6 cm. All the donor sites were closed directly.ResultsIn antegrade group, 2 flaps (5.8%, 2/34) showed partial necrosis; in retrograde group, 6 flaps (20%, 6/30) showed partial necrosis, 5 donor sites (16.7%, 5/30) showed partial necrosis; and all of them healed after dressing treatment. The other flaps survived successfully and incisions in donor sites healed by first intention. There was no significant difference in the incidence of partial necrosis between antegrade and retrograde groups (χ2=2.904, P=0.091). The difference in delayed healing rate of donor site between the two groups was significant (P=0.013). The patients were followed up 15-30 months, with an average of 23.1 months. The appearance and texture of the flaps were satisfactory, and only linear scar left in the donor site. No local recurrence was found in all patients. Four patients died of distant metastasis, including 2 cases of liver metastasis, 1 case of brain metastasis, and 1 case of lung metastasis. The average survival time was 22.6 months (range, 20-28 months).ConclusionThe modified designed bilobed latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap can repair chest wall defect after LABC surgery. Antegrade design of the flap can ensure the blood supply of the flap and reduce the tension of the donor site, decrease the incidence of complications.
OBJECTIVE To introduce the method using the gracilis myocutaneous flaps to repair of vulvar defect after radical vulvectomy. METHODS The gracilis myocutaneous flaps were applied in 4 cases with vulvar carcinoma which located vestibule of vulva and bulk, and the carcinoma was large after radical resection to repair vulvar defect simultaneously. RESULTS The incision of 3 cases was healing by first intention, and 1 case with type II diabetes mellitus was healing by second intention. After followed up 3-6 years, 1 case was recurrent in 2 years after operation, 3 cases were survival without complication. CONCLUSION Vulvar reconstruction with the use of gracilis myocutaneous flaps in radical vulvectomy could markedly decrease the rate of complication.
Objective To evaluate the results of the reconstruction of the soft tissue defects following the en block resection of tongue cancer using free anterolateral thigh myocutaneous flaps. Methods From November 2006 to December 2008, 109 cases underwent the reconstruction of the soft tissue defects following the en block resection of tongue cancer using free anterolateral thigh myocutaneous flaps. There were 75 males and 34 females with an age of 23-75 years (50.4 yearson average). The disease course was 1-6 months. According to 2002 International Union Control Cancer (IUCC) criterionfor TNM stage, there were 35 cases of T2N0M0, 8 cases of T2N1M0, 2 cases of T2N2M0, 31 cases of T3N0M0, 12 cases of T3N1M0, 7 cases of T3N2M0, 5 cases of T4N0M0, 4 cases of T4N1M0, 3 cases of T4N2M0, and 2 cases of T4N3M0. The range of tongue defect was 5 cm × 3 cm to 12 cm × 8 cm. The flap area ranged from 7 cm × 4 cm to 20 cm × 8 cm. Eighty-two patients with T3, T4 and positive lymph node metastasis determined by pathological examination after operation received radiotherapy. The vital ity of the flaps and the heal ing of the wounds were observed postoperatively. The shape and function of the reconstructed tongue were determined, the influences on function at donor site were evaluated and the flap tolerance to radiotherapy was investigated during the follow-up period. Results Mouth floor mandibular fistula occurred in 5 cases 5-7 days after operation, seroma formation in 1 case and wound dehiscence in another case at the donor site; the wounds healed by secondary intention after dressing. The other wounds healed primarily. All 105 flaps survived completely, 3 flaps developed partial necrosis 3-5 days after operation, the wounds healed after dressing; and 1 flap failed 3 days after operation, then it was removed and defects was repaired using pectoral is major muscle flap. Bl isters occurred in 8 flaps (all being thinning flaps) 1 day after operation. The overall complete survival of the flap was 96.3% (105/109). The patients were followed up for 0.5-2.5 years (1.2 years onaverage). Although the flaps had a l ittle atrophy, the shape of the reconstructed tongue was still satisfactory with suitable tonguemandibular groove. No depression was observed in the mandibular region. The speech as well as swallowing function were well recovered. The scar was easily hidden with no important functional impairment at the donor site. No flap necrosis occurred in all the patients who received postoperative radiotherapy. Conclusion Free anterolateral thigh myocutaneous flap transplantation is safe and rel iable, and it has the advantages of the better result at the recipient site, the less morbidity at the donor site, fewer postoperative compl ications and excellent tolerance to radiotherapy. So it is an ideal flap to repair soft tissue defects following the en block resection of tongue cancer.
Objective To investigate the reconstructive methods and effectiveness of modified pedicled anterolateral thigh (ALT) myocutaneous flap for large full-thickness abdominal defect reconstruction. Methods Between January 2016 and June 2018, 5 patients of large full-thickness abdominal defects were reconstructed with modified pedicled ALT myocutaneous flaps. There were 3 males and 2 females with an average age of 43.7 years (range, 32-65 years). Histologic diagnosis included desmoid tumor in 3 cases and sarcoma in 2 cases. The size of abdominal wall defect ranged from 20 cm×12 cm to 23 cm×16 cm. Peritoneum continuity was reconstructed with mesh; lateral vastus muscular flap was used to fill the dead space and rebuild the abdominal wall strength; skin grafting was applied on the muscular flap, the rest abdominal wall soft tissue defects were repaired with pedicled ALT flap. The size of lateral vastus muscular flap ranged from 20 cm×12 cm to 23 cm×16 cm, the size of ALT flap ranged from 20 cm×8 cm to 23 cm×10 cm. The donor site was closed directly. Results All flaps and skin grafts survived totally, and incisions healed by first intention. All patients were followed up 6-36 months (mean, 14.7 months). No tumor recurrence occurred, and abdominal function and appearance were satisfying. No abdominal hernia was noted. Only linear scar left in the donor sites, and the function and appearance were satisfying. Conclusion Modified pedicled ALT myocutaneous flap is efficient for large full-thickness abdominal defect reconstruction, decrease the donor site morbidity, and improve the donor site and recipient site appearance.
Form April 1991 to August 1994, ten cases of extensive soft tissue injury of the extremities with bone and tendons exposed were treated by emergency transfer of latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flaps. The types of the myocutaneous flap were as follows: with vascular pedicle in 1 case, free latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap in 8 cases,and transfer of combined bilateral latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flaps in 1 case. There were 8 males and 2 females with the ages ranging from 7 to 44 years (an average of 24.4 years). The operations were all performed within 6 hours after trauma except in 1 case, due to its delayed arrival to our hospital, the operation was carried out 14 days after trauma. The results were as follows: total survival of the flap in 6 cases, necrosis of the distal portion of the skin of the flap in 3 cases and necrosis of a greater portion of the skin in one case who had been subjected the transfer of combined bilateral latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap. but the deep muscle layerwas intact. However, the result was encouraging. The operative technique and the advantages of emergency coverage of the wound were discussed.
ObjectiveTo summarize the combination methods and optimization strategies of the harvest procedure of anterolateral thigh chimeric perforator myocutaneous flap. MethodsA clinical data of 359 cases of oral cancer admitted between June 2015 and December 2021 was retrospectively analyzed. There were 338 males and 21 females with an average age of 35.7 years (range, 28-59 years). There were 161 cases of tongue cancer, 132 cases of gingival cancer, and 66 cases of buccal and oral cancer. According to the Union International Center of Cancer (UICC) TNM staging, there were 137 cases of T4N0M0, 166 cases of T4N1M0, 43 cases of T3N1M0, 13 cases of T3N2M0. The disease duration was 1-12 months (mean, 6.3 months). The soft tissue defects in size of 5.0 cm×4.0 cm to 10.0 cm×7.5 cm remained after radical resection were repaired with the free anterolateral thigh chimeric perforator myocutaneous flaps. The process of harvesting the myocutaneous flap was mainly divided into 4 steps. Step 1: exposing and separating the perforator vessels, which mainly came from the oblique branch and the lateral branch of the descending branch. Step 2: isolating the main trunk of the perforator vessel pedicle and determining the origin of the vascular pedicle of muscle flap, which was came from oblique branch, lateral branch of the descending branch, or medial branch of the descending branch. Step 3: determining the source of muscle flap, including lateral thigh muscle and rectus femoris muscle. Step 4: determining the harvest form of muscle flap, which included muscle branch type, main trunk distal type, and main trunk lateral type. Results The 359 free anterolateral thigh chimeric perforator myocutaneous flaps were harvested. In all cases, the anterolateral femoral perforator vessels existed. The perforator vascular pedicle of the flap came from the oblique branch in 127 cases and the lateral branch of the descending branch in 232 cases. The vascular pedicle of muscle flap originated from the oblique branch in 94 cases, the lateral branch of the descending branch in 187 cases, and the medial branch of the descending branch in 78 cases. The muscle flaps harvested from the lateral thigh muscle in 308 cases and the rectus femoris muscle in 51 cases. The harvest forms of muscle flaps included 154 cases of muscle branch type, 78 cases of main trunk distal type, and 127 cases of main trunk lateral type. The size of skin flaps ranged from 6.0 cm×4.0 cm to 16.0 cm×8.0 cm, and the size of muscle flaps range from 5.0 cm×4.0 cm to 9.0 cm×6.0 cm. In 316 cases, the perforating artery anastomosed with the superior thyroid artery, and the accompanying vein anastomosed with the superior thyroid vein. In 43 cases, the perforating artery anastomosed with the facial artery, and the accompanying vein anastomosed with the facial vein. After operation, the hematoma occurred in 6 cases and vascular crisis in 4 cases. Among them, 7 cases were successfully saved after emergency exploration, 1 case had partial necrosis of skin flap, which was healed after conservative dressing change, and 2 cases had complete necrosis of skin flap, which was repaired by pectoralis major myocutaneous flap. All patients were followed up 10-56 months (mean, 22.5 months). The appearance of the flap was satisfactory, and the swallowing and language functions were restored satisfactorily. Only linear scar left in the donor site with no significant effect on thigh function. During follow-up, 23 patients had local tumor recurrence and 16 patients had cervical lymph node metastasis. The 3-year survival rate was 38.2% (137/359). Conclusion The flexible and clear classification of the key points in the harvest process of anterolateral thigh chimeric perforator myocutaneous flap can optimize the protocol to the greatest extent, increase the safety of the operation, and reduce the difficulty of the operation.
Objective To introduce the experience of the cl inical appl ication of vertical trapezius myocutaneous flap in repairing soft tissue defects after head and neck tumor resection. Methods Between June 2008 and February 2010, 12 cases of soft tissue defect caused by head and neck tumor resection were repaired with vertical trapezius myocutaneous flap.There were 9 males and 3 females with an age range from 32 to 76 years (median, 54 years). Twelve cases including 2 cases of basal cell carcinoma of orbital skin, 2 cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the parotid gland, 2 cases of submandibular gland mal ignant mixed tumor, 2 cases of metastatic lymph nodes of nasopharyngea carcinoma after radiotherapy, 1 case of squamous cell carcinoma of tongue, and 3 cases of squamous cell carcinoma of occipital skin, and all were classified as TNM stages T3 or T4. The area of soft tissue defect ranged from 13 cm × 6 cm to 25 cm × 13 cm. The vertical trapezius myocutaneous flap ranged from 14 cm × 7 cm to 26 cm × 14 cm and was transfered to repair defect tissue in the homolateral wounds after tumor resection and neck dissection homochronously. The donor sites were sutured directly. Results All incisions healed primarily without infection. Eleven flaps survived except 1 flap with edge necrosis, which was cured after dressing change. Subcutaneous hematocele and effusion occurred in 2 cases on the back after tube was removed at 7 days postoperatively, and they were cured by sucted and pressured dressing. Eleven patients were followed up 1-3 years (mean, 2 years). Nine cases had no tumor recurrence and the flaps had statisfactory appearance; the abduction function of shoulder joint were normal. One case of orbit basal cell carcinoma occurred 3 months after operation and 1 case of nasopharyngeal carcinoma died of brain metastasis 12 months after operation. Conclusion It is an easy and simple therapy to repair head and neck soft tissue defect using the vertical trapezius myocutaneous flap, which can meet the needs of repairing tissue defect of head and neck.
ObjectiveTo investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of the latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap in repair of large complex tissue defects of limb and the relaying posterior intercostal artery perforator flap in repair of donor defect after latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap transfer.MethodsBetween January 2016 and May 2017, 9 patients with large complex tissue defects were treated. There were 8 males and 1 female with a median age of 33 years (range, 21-56 years). The injury caused by traffic accident in 8 cases, and the time from post-traumatic admission to flap repair was 1-3 weeks (mean, 13 days). The defect in 1 case was caused by the resection of medial vastus muscle fibrosarcoma. There were 5 cases of upper arm defects and 4 cases of thigh defects. The size of wounds ranged from 20 cm×12 cm to 36 cm×27 cm. There were biceps brachii defect in 2 cases, triceps brachii defect in 3 cases, biceps femoris defect in 2 cases, quadriceps femoris defect in 2 cases, humerus fracture in 2 cases, brachial artery injury in 2 cases, and arteria femoralis split defect combined with nervus peroneus communis and tibia nerve split defect in 1 case. The latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flaps were used to repair the wounds and reconstruct the muscle function. The size of the skin flaps ranged from 22 cm×13 cm to 39 cm×28 cm; the size of the muscle flaps ranged from 12 cm×3 cm to 18 cm×5 cm. The wounds were repaired with pedicle flaps and free flaps in upper limbs and lower limbs, respectively. The donor sites were repaired with posterior intercostal artery perforator flaps. The size of flaps ranged from 10 cm×5 cm to 17 cm×8 cm. The second donor sites were sutured directly.ResultsAll the flaps survived smoothly and the wounds and donor sites healed by first intention. All patients were followed up 10-19 months (mean, 13 months). At last follow-up, the flaps had good appearances and textures. The muscle strength recovered to grade 4 in 5 cases and to grade 3 in 4 cases. After latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap transfer, the range of motion of shoulder joint was 40-90°, with an average of 70°. The two-point discrimination of latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap was 9-15 mm (mean, 12.5 mm), and that of posterior intercostal artery perforator flap was 8-10 mm (mean, 9.2 mm). There were only residual linear scars at the second donor sites.ConclusionThe latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap combined with posterior intercostal artery perforator flap for the large complex tissue defects and donor site can not only improve the appearance of donor and recipient sites, but also reconstruct muscle function, and reduce the incidence of donor complications.
From 1985 through May of 1989, a total of 6 cases of breast carcinomas underwent primary reconstruction of breast immediately following radical mastectomy by using transposition of vaseularized latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap for reconstruction of breast. The re- sults of all these 6 cases were satisfactory. The design of the operation and the operative technique were detailed. The importance of the reconstruction of breast immediately after the radical mastectomy and the advantages of using vascularized latissimus dousi myocutanous flap for reconstruction were discussed.
Objective To evaluate the feasibil ity and cl inical significance of the computed tomography angiography (CTA) for the latissimus dorsi muscle (LDM) flap transplantation. Methods From September 2007 to August 2008, 3 cases of soft tissue defects in l imbs were treated with LDM flap transplantation. Three patients included 2 males and 1 female whowere 23 to 42 years old. All of soft tissue defects were caused by trauma. The locations were the forearm in 2 cases and the leg in 1 case. The area of defect was 17 cm × 8 cm-20 cm × 10 cm. All cases received CTA to observe the distribution and anastomosis of thoracodorsal artery. Subsequently, three-dimensional computer reconstruction were carried out to display the stereoscopic structure of the LDM flap and to design the LDM flap before operation. Results The anatomy characteristic of LDM flap can be displayed accurately by the three-dimensional reconstruction model. The distribution of thoracodorsal artery in 3 cases of flaps was in concordance with preoperative design completely. All the flaps were excised successfully, the area of the flap was 19 cm × 10 cm-22 cm × 12 cm. All the transferred flaps survived completely. All cases were followed up from 4 months to 12 months. The color and texture of the flaps were good. Conclusion The three-dimensional reconstructive images can provide visible, stereoscopic and dynamic anatomy for cl inical appl ication of LDM flap. The digitized three-dimensional reconstructive models of LDM flap structures can be appl ied in cl inical training and pre-operative design.