Anterolateral thigh flap for head and neck reconstruction : anatomic study

Park, Joo Yong; Park, Hyun Do; Youn, Kwan Hyun; Kwak, Hyun Ho; Hu, Kyung Seok; Kang, Hyun Joo; Kim, Hee Jin; Choi, Sung Weon

Abstract

The anterolateral thigh flap was originally described in 1984 as a septocutaneous flap based on the descending branch of the lateral circumflex artery. This flap has some significant advantages for reconstruction of the head and neck. It can be raised as a subcutaneous flap, a fasciocutaneous flap, or a myocutaneous flap and can resurface large defects in the head and neck. In addition, it has a large and long vascular pedicle, and because of the distance of the donor site from the head and neck, it can easily be harvested with a 2-team approach. However, the number and locations of cutaneous perforators vary individually, and thus, it is not widely used because flap elevation is often complicated and time-consuming owing to unexpected anatomical variations. The purposes of this study are to classify the vascular anatomy and to assess the suitability of anterolateral thigh flap for head and neck reconstruction in Korean. We performed an anatomic study on cadavers and analyzed the anatomic pattern of the lateral circumflex femoral arterial system and the perforators nourishing the anterolateral thigh flap. This study suggest the characteristics of vascular anatomic patterns of anterolateral thigh flap of Korean and utility of this flap for head and neck reconstruction.