Novel flaps for head and neck reconstruction

The head and neck region is important both functionally and aesthetically and its reconstruction poses a formidable challenge for plastic surgeons. A perforator flap is a flap of skin or subcutaneous tissue supplied by a vessel that perforates the deep fascia to gain access to flap. With improvement in our knowledge of the anatomy of blood supply to the skin, the perforator flaps have opened a whole new horizon for the plastic surgeon to choose flaps with better function and cosmesis. The locally available perforators enable flaps to be designed with excellent match in tissue characteristics. Perforator flaps limit donor site morbidity and as they are islanded complete insetting is possible in a single stage. The principal perforator flaps such as facial artery perforator flap, platysma flap and its variant the submental flap and supra-clavicular artery flap used in the head and neck reconstruction are discussed. The more commonly used flaps are the free radial artery forearm flap and the anterolateral thigh flap while the novel ones are the thoracodorsal artery perforator flap, medial sural artery perforator flap and the toe-web flap for commissure reconstruction. The indications, reach and drawbacks of these flaps have been discussed in this review. © 2010 Indian Association of Surgical Oncology.