Clinical use of a pedicled anterolateral thigh flap.

BACKGROUND: Anterolateral thigh flap is a safe and reliable flap for soft tissue reconstruction. It has successfully been used as free flap reconstruction for defects in the head and neck region, the upper extremities and lower extremities. However, there were only a few reports in the literature concerning the clinical application of this flap for regional reconstruction.

METHODS: The authors describe their experience of using the pedicled island anterolateral thigh flap for reconstruction of soft tissue defects in neighbouring areas. Representative cases are presented for illustration.

RESULT: Between July 2005 and September 2006, seven patients underwent an immediate reconstruction with pedicled anterolateral thigh flap. The patients were between 49 and 69 years old. The size of the flaps measured from 5 x 8 cm to 15 x 15 cm. They were prepared as myocutaneous flaps in three cases and as perforator flaps in four cases. One patient, who had the largest flap harvested, needed skin grafting of the donor site. Primary closure was performed for all other cases. All flaps survived without any vascular compromise and the donor site healed without complication.

CONCLUSION: Our study has shown that the pedicled anterolateral thigh flap is a safe and reliable flap for repair of defects at the internal pelvis, lateral thigh, groin, and genitoperineal region. The long vascular pedicle and having no restriction to the arc of rotation are keys to the successful transposition of the flap for immediate reconstruction of soft tissue defects in neighbouring areas.