title: Routine preoperative colour Doppler duplex ultrasound scanning in anterolateral thigh flaps.
abstract: The anterolateral thigh flap (ALT) is often used to reconstruct the head and neck and depends on one or more skin perforators, which often present with variable anatomy. The aim of this study was to localise and evaluate the precise position of these perforators preoperatively with colour Doppler duplex ultrasound scanning (US). We detected 74 perforators in 30 patients. The mean duration of examination with colour Doppler was 29 (range 13-51) minutes. Adequate perforators and their anatomical course could be detected preoperatively extremely accurately (p<0.001). The mean difference between the preoperatively marked, and the real, positions was 6.3 (range 0-16) mm. There was a highly significant correlation between the accuracy of the prediction and the body mass index of the patient (0.75; p<0.001). Neither the age nor the sex of the patient correlated with the accuracy of the prediction. Colour Doppler duplex US used preoperatively to localise perforators in ALT flaps is reliable and could be adopted as standard procedure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstraße 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lichte
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstraße 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Teichmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstraße 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Loberg
authors.affiliation: Division of Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Medical Genetics, Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology, Innsbruck Medical University, Schöpfstraße 41, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kloss-Brandstätter
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstraße 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bartella
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstraße 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Timm
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Steiner
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstraße 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Modabber
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstraße 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hölzle
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstraße 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany. Electronic address: blethaus@ukaachen.de.
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lethaus
mesh_terms: D003116:Color; D006801:Humans; D011300:Preoperative Care; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D013848:Thigh; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color
keywords: ALT; Color Doppler Sonography; Ultrasound