Free vascularized lateral femoral cutaneous nerve graft with anterolateral thigh flap for reconstruction of facial nerve defects.
Wide resection of a malignant tumor in the parotid gland often results in loss of a long segment of facial nerve, as well as a soft-tissue defect. With conventional nerve grafts, functional recovery of the facial nerve is poor in cases with risk factors that might inhibit nerve regeneration, such as a history of irradiation and a recipient bed scarred from previous operations. For such cases, a vascularized nerve graft is reported to be more effective than a nonvascularized nerve graft. This paper describes the first successful use of a free vascularized lateral femoral cutaneous nerve graft combined with an anterolateral thigh flap to repair the facial nerve and a soft-tissue defect. This method is technically simple, has minimal donor-site morbidity, and typically results in successful nerve recovery.
Iida
Takuya
T
Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Shizuoka Cancer Center, Shizuoka, Japan.
Nakagawa
Masahiro
M
Asano
Takayuki
T
Fukushima
Chihiro
C
Tachi
Kazuhumi
K
D000200:Action Potentials; D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000601:surgery*; D000328:Adult; D004576:Electromyography; D005154:Facial Nerve / Q000601:surgery*; D005267:Femoral Nerve / Q000637:transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D010307:Parotid Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods; D013524:Surgical Flaps