title: Modified free pectoral skin flaps in rats.
abstract: Various types of murine free flaps have been developed for microsurgical training and research. We present a new modification of the free pectoral skin flap in Sprague-Dawley rats. Twelve free pectoral skin flaps were raised according to the standard protocol except that we deviated from it by transecting the common thoracic vessels at the origin of the axillary vessels and anastomosing them end-to-side to the femoral vessels in the groin. This reduced operating time and complications as well as postoperative morbidity and mortality. Overall, it simplified the procedure considerably and therefore made the model more attractive to beginners in microvascular surgery.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional and Clinical Anatomy, University Medical Center Mainz, Johann-Joachim-Becher-Weg 13, 55099 Mainz, Germany; Department of Oral- and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Center Mainz, Augustusplatz 2, 55131 Mainz, Germany. Electronic address: apabst@students.uni-mainz.de.
authors.forename: Andreas Max
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Pabst
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional and Clinical Anatomy, University Medical Center Mainz, Johann-Joachim-Becher-Weg 13, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jäger
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional and Clinical Anatomy, University Medical Center Mainz, Johann-Joachim-Becher-Weg 13, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Maximilian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ackermann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional and Clinical Anatomy, University Medical Center Mainz, Johann-Joachim-Becher-Weg 13, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Moritz Anton
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Konerding
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D058752:Free Tissue Flaps; D006119:Groin / Q000601:surgery; D008866:Microsurgery; D011184:Postoperative Period; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012867:Skin
keywords: Anastomoses; Free flap; Microvascular surgery; Rats