Free posterior tibial flap for head and neck reconstruction after tumor expiration.

BACKGROUND: Similar to the radial forearm flap, free tissue transfer of a fasciocutaneous flap is possible if the septocutaneous perforators of the posterior tibial vessels are preserved.
OBJECTIVE: The authors report their clinical experience on using the free posterior tibial flap for primary reconstruction of head and neck defects after tumor extirpation.
METHODS: Eleven patients were included between October of 2005 and March of 2007. Patients' clinical and demographic data were collected. The flap harvesting results and outcomes were retrospectively reviewed. Representative cases are presented for illustration. RESULT: There were nine men and two women, and their ages ranged from 34 to 83 (mean, 60.3) years. The flaps measured from 6 x 9 cm to 8 x 12 cm. Two cutaneous perforators were included in the majority of cases. The average flap thickness was 0.7 cm, and the average pedicle length was 14 cm. Flap survival was 100%. Skin grafts of all donor sites healed well. All patients were ambulatory early in the postoperative period, and there was no distal limb ischemia or cold intolerance on follow-up. Four patients needed postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy.
CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that the posterior tibial flap is a safe and reliable flap for reconstruction of head and neck defects after tumor expiration. It has all the comparable properties of a radial forearm flap. In addition, a larger area of skin can be removed, and the graft donor site is less conspicuous.