title: Hair-bearing submental artery island flap for reconstruction of mustache and beard.
abstract: Loss of mustache and beard in the adult male caused by severe burn, trauma, or tumor resection may cause cosmetic and psychological problems for these patients. Reconstruction of the elements of the face presents difficult and often daunting problems for plastic surgeons. The tissue that will be used for this purpose should have the same characteristics as the facial area, consisting of thin, pliable, hair-bearing tissue with a good color match. There is a very limited amount of donor area that has these characteristics. A hair-bearing submental island flap was used successfully for mustache and beard reconstruction in 11 male patients during the last 5 years. The scar was on the mentum in four cases, right cheek in two cases, right half of the upper lip in two cases, left cheek in one case, left half of the upper lip in one case, and both sides of the upper lip in one case. The submental island flap is supplied by the submental artery, a branch of the facial artery. The maximum flap size was 13 x 6 cm and the minimum size was 6 x 3 cm (average, 10 x 4 cm) in this series. Direct closure was achieved at all donor sites. Patients were followed up for 6 months to 5 years. No major complication was noted other than one case of temporary palsy of the marginal mandibular branch of the facial nerve. The mean postoperative stay was 7 days. Color and texture match were good. Hair growth on the flap was normal, and characteristics of the hair were the same as the intact side of the face in all patients. The submental island flap is safe, rapid, and simple to raise and leaves a well-hidden donor-site scar. The authors believe that the submental artery island flap surpasses the other flaps in reconstruction of the mustache and beard in male patients. Application of the technique and results are discussed in this article.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Social Security Foundation Ankara Research Hospital, Turkey. zuhtudemir@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Zühtü
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Demir
authors.forename: Atilla
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kurtay
authors.forename: Unal
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sahin
authors.forename: Hifzi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Velidedeoğlu
authors.forename: Selim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Celebioğlu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002921:Cicatrix / Q000601:surgery; D005151:Facial Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D005153:Facial Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D006197:Hair; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009333:Neck; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000098:blood supply