Endoscopic latissimus dorsl flap harvesting in breast reconstruction surgery. Feasibility and review of the literature

Endoscopic Latissimus Dorsi flap harvesting in breast reconstruction surgery. Feasibility and review of the literature. Study aim: breast reconstructive surgery with latissimus dorsi flap is routinely performed with a long dorsal scar ransom. To reduce the scar the authors propose an endoscopic technique to harvest the pure latissimus dorsal flap. We evaluate our first experience. Patients and methods: Between April 2001 and december 2001, 13 patients were operate using an endoscopic pure muscular latissimus dorsal flap for breast reconstruction surgery. Results: Mean operative time is 116 min. No open conversion was necessary. One patient was transfused. The average lymphatic drainage was of 2520 ml with removal of the drainage on postoperative day 15. Conclusion: The endoscopic harvesting of the latissimus dorsi pure muscular flap, brings less scar than the open surgery. (C) 2002 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.