Free peroneal skin flap for oropharyngeal reconstruction.

The thicknesses of three dermal flaps, platysma, forearm, and fibula, which are often used for oropharyngeal reconstruction, were measured in 21 subjects using 15 MHz Doppler ultrasonography. The mean (SD) thicknesses were 2.2 (0.3), 3.1 (0.5), and 3.8 (0.6) mm, respectively. The free peroneal skin flap from the leg was used in 14 patients with head and neck cancer. These flaps were successfully transplanted in 13 of 14 patients (93%) with no problems at the donor site. This flap offers many advantages, including its distance from the head and neck, its cosmetic superiority to a forearm flap, it allows two flaps with two cutaneous branches, it is possible to close the donor site primarily without a skin graft, and it has thin subcutaneous tissue. We found that the free peroneal skin flap is particularly useful for oropharyngeal reconstruction.