Survival of a free jejunal flap with venous occlusion.

The jejunum offers numerous advantages for reconstruction compared with other methods, despite transplantation; however, total necrosis occasionally occurs in a jejunal flap caused by vascular thrombosis and loss of axial blood supply. Survival of a free jejunal flap after interruption of the vascular pedicle is rare. We report the survival of a free jejunal flap, despite venous occlusion, at 5 weeks after the procedure. This may indicate that venous neovascularization of a free jejunal flap is complete within 5 weeks after the operation. Copyright (c) 2010 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.