Facial Reconstruction with Combined Facial,Neck and Occipital Skin Flap Transplantation

Facial defects caused by injury and operationsseverely affect the external appearance of face.The traditional reconstruction for such defects in-cluded the use of split- or full- thickness skingrafts.But the thickness,color and elasticity ofthe donor skin is different from those of recipientarea and it looks just like a“stamp”on face afterthe skin graft survived.Moreover,the skin tendsto suffer from necrosis when a wound has bone ex-posure to the atmosphere.Some scholars used ad-jacent flaps…

Facial reconstruction with combined facial, neck and occipital skin flap transplantation

To treat large facial defect (more than 6 cm x 4 cm in diameter) or a wound with bone exposure to atmosphere by less-traumatic, easier-healing reconstruction method, a pedicle flap including facial, neck, posterior auricle and occipital skin flap was designed and transferred, one by one, to repair facial defect as well as other flap donor sites, but occipital skin flap was only used to cover posterior auricle area. After 2-3 years follow-up, well-healed skin flaps with good color, elasticity and sensation were observed in all 16 patients. It is concluded that this method is effective and practical.