Prefabricated flaps: experimental and clinical review.
Prefabricated flaps are a useful tool for the reconstructive surgeon and present a number of advantages: 1. Specific preferred tissue composites, regardless of their native vascular origin, can be transferred as free or pedicled flaps. 2. Larger flaps of specialized tissue may be transferred safely. 3. Donor-site morbidity is reduced. 4. The functional outcome for the patients may be more satisfactory. The various methods of flap prefabrication include vascular induction through stage transfer; pretransfer delay, expansion, and grafting; the use of alloplastic materials; and tissue bioengineering. We have reviewed both the experimental and clinical research on flap prefabrication, describing the theory, technique, and advantages of each method.
Abbase
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EA
Division of Plastic Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Shenaq
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SM
Spira
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el-Falaky
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D000818:Animals; D001698:Biomedical Engineering; D006801:Humans; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000379:methods*; D015626:Tissue Expansion