Facial Defect Reconstruction Using the True Scarless Pre-Expanded Forehead Flap. 2018

Shan Zhu, and Yuanbo Liu, and Mengqing Zang, and Bo Chen, and Shanshan Li, and Bingjian Xue, and Tinglu Han
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Plastic Surgery Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.

OBJECTIVE This clinical study describes a reconstructive method for facial soft-tissue defects that uses the pre-expanded forehead flap and minimizes donor site morbidities. METHODS The surgery was subdivided into 3 stages. First stage, an appropriately sized expander was buried underneath the forehead. Second stage, after adequate inflation of the expander, a forehead flap based on the frontal branches of the superficial temporal artery was raised, and the distal portion of the flap was used to reconstruct the facial defect. The cutaneous pedicle of the flap was designed near the frontal hairline. Third stage, 3 weeks later, the flap pedicle was divided, and the forehead incisional scar was melted into the neoreconstructed hairline. RESULTS Between July 2010 and December 2016, 16 patients underwent facial defect reconstruction. Etiologies included postburn scar (31%), melanocytic nevus (56%), and hemangioma (13%). The mean size of the defects was 8.78 × 5.06 cm (range, 3 × 2.5 to 15 × 7 cm). The average dimension of the forehead flap was 21.63 × 7.38 cm (range, 12 × 4 to 28 × 10 cm). Fifteen flaps survived without any perfusion-related complications. Venous congestion occurred in 1 flap and gradually subsided without any flap loss. Patients were followed after surgery, ranging from 4 to 48 months. Patients and/or their family members were satisfied with the final aesthetic outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Facial defect reconstruction using a pre-expanded forehead flap, with the donor-site incisional scar designed along the hairline, can not only provide sufficient tissue for defect reconstruction, but also maximally reduce donor-site morbidities.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D009508 Nevus, Pigmented A nevus containing melanin. The term is usually restricted to nevocytic nevi (round or oval collections of melanin-containing nevus cells occurring at the dermoepidermal junction of the skin or in the dermis proper) or moles, but may be applied to other pigmented nevi. Nevus, Melanocytic,Nevi, Melanocytic,Nevi, Pigmented,Pigmented Moles,Melanocytic Nevi,Melanocytic Nevus,Pigmented Nevi,Pigmented Nevus
D011183 Postoperative Complications Pathologic processes that affect patients after a surgical procedure. They may or may not be related to the disease for which the surgery was done, and they may or may not be direct results of the surgery. Complication, Postoperative,Complications, Postoperative,Postoperative Complication
D002648 Child A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL. Children
D002675 Child, Preschool A child between the ages of 2 and 5. Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D002921 Cicatrix The fibrous tissue that replaces normal tissue during the process of WOUND HEALING. Scars,Cicatrization,Scar,Scarring
D005145 Face The anterior portion of the head that includes the skin, muscles, and structures of the forehead, eyes, nose, mouth, cheeks, and jaw. Faces
D005153 Facial Neoplasms New abnormal growth of tissue in the FACE. Facial Neoplasm,Neoplasm, Facial,Neoplasms, Facial
D005260 Female Females
D005546 Forehead The part of the face above the eyes. Foreheads

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