A triceps musculocutaneous flap for chest-wall defects.

A posterior upper arm flap based on the profunda brachii vessels has been described to cover soft-tissue defects in the upper anterolateral chest. In our series, the posterior upper arm skin is elevated with the long head of the triceps muscle to cover seven chest-wall defects resulting from indolent postradiation open wounds following partial TRAM flap failure (n = 2), soft-tissue deficiencies following partial TRAM flap loss (n = 3), and primarily as an ancillary flap in TRAM flap breast reconstruction (n = 2). This flap also may be used to supply well-vascularized tissue in the regions of the shoulder, axilla, and posterolateral back. A prerequisite for this operation is redundant tissue of the upper arm often present in middle-aged women and in patients with lymphedema following mastectomy. In our series of seven patients, all donor sites were closed primarily, and there was no subjective functional deficit following transfer of the long head of the triceps muscle.