title: Management of postpneumonectomy empyema using free flap and pedicled flap.
abstract: Treatment of empyema after pneumonectomy is challenging. We treated 4 patients with postpneumonectomy empyema using a free rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap together with a pedicled pectoralis major muscle flap. The pectoralis major flap was used to fill the apical portion of the cavity, while the rectus abdominis flap was used to fill the caudal portion and occlude any bronchial fistula present. All empyemas were treated successfully without recurrence. This method has the advantage of filling apical and caudal parts of the space at once, making effective use of the combined volume of the two flaps.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan. takanari@na.rim.or.jp
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takanari
authors.forename: Yuzuru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kamei
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Toriyama
authors.forename: Shunjiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yagi
authors.forename: Shuhei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Torii
mesh_terms: D000009:Abdominal Muscles / Q000637:transplantation*; D016724:Empyema, Pleural / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011013:Pneumonectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D013905:Thoracoplasty / Q000379:methods*