ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Italian Journal of Maxillofacial Surgery 2011 December;22(3):157-62

Copyright © 2012 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Perforator flaps: new standard in head and neck reconstruction

Pingarrón Martín L. ¹, Arias Gallo L. J. ³, Morán Soto M. J. ², González Otero T. ², González Martín-Moro J. ², Burgueño M. ²

¹ Oral and Maxillofacial Oncology and Reconstructive Surgery. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai, China; ² Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, La Paz University Hospital, Madrid, Spain; ³ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Hospital Sanitas La Moraleja, Madrid, Spain

AIM: The aim of the study was to describe the usefulness of the perforator flaps, to analyse the reconstructive tendency of soft tissue defects in head and neck in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of La Paz University Hospital from the introduction of perforator flaps in our surgical practice and to emphasize in the anatomy of these flaps.
METHODS: A retrospective review of all the clinical histories in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at La Paz University Hospital from January 2005 to November 2010. Demographic data, etiology of the tumor, location of the defect and complications are collected.
RESULTS: Eighty-four patients with carcinoma of head and neck reconstructed with soft tissue microvascularized flaps are identified. Orofacial defects mainly correspond to glossectomies and hemiglossectomies in 40% cases. After 2005, we have abruptly reduced the use of non-perforator flaps.
CONCLUSION: Perforator flaps represent the further evolution of flaps used by reconstructive microsurgeons, while lessening the donor site “cost” of the reconstruction.