J Korean Soc Plast Reconstr Surg.  1999 Sep;26(5):923-926.

The Benegits of Segnental Latissimus Dorsi Muscle Free Flap

• Park YG
• Lee HB
• Kim SW
• Chung YK

Abstract

Since the first report by Tansini in 1896, the latissimus dorsi muscle free flap has been widely used for various types of soft tissue defect due to reliable anatomy with a sufficient diameter of neurovascular pedicle and a sizable muscle. However, for relatively small soft tissue defect, latissimus dorsi free flap offers several distinct disadvantages of donor site including loss of the posterior axillary fold and flattening of the posterolateral chest wall, weakness of upper arm strength in extension, adduction and internal rotation. We treated three patients having various types of soft tissue defect using segmental latissimus dorsi muscular free flap depending on its descending branch of thoracodorsal neurovascular pedicles. There were no serious complications during 18 months of mean follow-up. We concluded that this method has some advantages such as no weakness of strength of the upper arm including walking on crutches, preserving the posterior axillary fold, preventing winging of the scapula and increased chance of using a flow-through technique. Here we present our cases of reconstruction of soft tissue defect using segmental latissimus dorsi free flap with a review of the literature.

MeSH Terms

Arm
Crutches
Follow-Up Studies
Free Tissue Flaps*
Humans
Scapula
Superficial Back Muscles*
Thoracic Wall
Tissue Donors
Walking