Ipsilateral full-thickness forearm skin graft for covering the radial forearm flap donor site.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: The technique of the ipsilateral full-thickness forearm skin graft for covering the defect of radial forearm free flap (RFFF) improves aesthetic impairment at the recipient and donor sites by split-thickness skin graft repair and omits the need to make an extraoperative site for harvesting the skin graft. However, in this technique, the RFFF is limited in size. In the present study, we considered a model of the forearm and calculated the possible size of the RFFF for using this technique.

METHODS: The calculation was conducted under assumptions that the isosceles-triangle skin graft is elevated as its height is twice the RFFF length in the direction of the forearm axis and that the forearm skin defect can be primarily closed with a width shorter than one-fourth of the wrist circumference. The calculation revealed that this technique is feasible when the RFFF width, that is, the length vertical to the forearm axis, is shorter than half of the wrist circumference. We repaired the RFFF defect using this technique in 15 patients with head and neck cancer in whom the RFFF size conformed to the above-mentioned condition.

RESULTS: When the RFFF width was shorter than half of the wrist circumference and the isosceles-triangle skin graft was elevated as its height was twice the RFFF length, the RFFF defect could be repaired using this technique in all 15 patients.

CONCLUSION: The above-mentioned condition (that the RFFF width is shorter than half of the wrist circumference) is useful for determining whether or not the technique of ipsilateral full-thickness forearm skin graft can be used for covering the RFFF defect.