[Clinical applications of anterolateral thigh flap].
OBJECTIVE
To discuss different applications of anterolateral thigh flap in repairing large skin-soft tissue defects.


METHODS
From January 1997 to July 2004, 27 patients with large-complex tissue defects were treated using anterolateral thigh flap. The tissue defect was located at face in 9 cases, at cervix in 4 cases, at lower limbs in 6 cases, at vulvae in 4 cases, at hip in 1 case, at groin in 1 case and at breast tissue in 2 cases. The defect area was from 9 cm X 8 cm to 20 cm X 15 cm and the flap was harvested from 10 cm X 8 cm to 33 cm X 15 cm.


RESULTS
Flaps survived in 26 cases after operation, and patients were satisfied with local function and appearance; flap necrosis occurred only in 1 case, and the defect was covered with free skin graft after dress exchanges. Twenty-three cases were followed up from 3 months to 2 years. The appearance and the sense of recipient site were similar to the adjacent tissue. No obvious malformation of the donor site was observed. No local recurrence was found in the 6 cases of malignancy during the follow-up from 6 months to 15 months.


CONCLUSIONS
Anterolateral thigh skin flap can provide enough tissue to repair large skin-soft tissue defect, and can be used in different ways. So anterolateral femoral skin flap is an ideal flap in repairing large skin-soft tissue defect.
Sun
Baodong
B
Department of Plastic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100730, P.R. China. baodong2003@vip.sina.com
Qiao
Qun
Q
Yan
Yingjun
Y
D005205:Fascia / Q000637:transplantation*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016038:Skin Transplantation; D017695:Soft Tissue Injuries / Q000601:surgery; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D013848:Thigh