title: The dog-ear flap as an alternative for breast reconstruction in patients who have already undergone a DIEAP flap.
abstract: Breast reconstruction in patients who have previously undergone deep inferior epigastric artery perforator flap (DIEAP) reconstruction or abdominoplasty is often challenging. Depending on patients' body habitus, several second-choice flaps have been described such as the transverse upper gracilis (TUG) flap, profundus femoris artery perforator (PFAP) flap, superior gluteal artery perforator (SGAP) flap, and lumbar artery perforator (LAP) flap. Patients who have undergone a DIEAP flap reconstruction or abdominoplasty occasionally present with dog ears on both sides of the abdominal scar. The adipose tissue and skin of these dog ears are supplied by perforators of the deep circumflex iliac artery (DCIA). The DCIA flap was first described in 1979 by Taylor. We introduce this abdominal "dog-ear" flap for autologous breast reconstruction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, University Hospital Ghent, Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: brittcolebunders@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Britt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Colebunders
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, University Hospital Ghent, Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: bernard.depypere@ugent.be.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Depypere
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, University Hospital Ghent, Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: Koenraad.vanlanduyt@ugent.be.
authors.forename: Koenraad
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Van Landuyt
mesh_terms: D034861:Abdominal Wall / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000098:blood supply; D061645:Abdominoplasty; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019074:Epigastric Arteries; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016462:Mammaplasty / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D061525:Perforator Flap / Q000098:blood supply / Q000637:transplantation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012086:Reoperation; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000098:blood supply / Q000637:transplantation*; D060053:Transplant Donor Site / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000098:blood supply; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous
keywords: Breast reconstruction; DIEAP flap; Dog ear flap; Microsurgery