[The Abbe-Estlander flap: anatomic basis, surgical technic and indications for lip repair].

The Abbe-Estlander flap is a full-thickness lip-switch flap rotated from mid lower lip to fill defects of the upper lip. In 1872, Estlander emphasized the importance of this flap. Abbe, in 1898, was the first to switch a lower lip flap into the upper lip for a cleft deformity. The lip-switch flap is an arterialized flap, based on the constant inferior labial artery. This flap is widely used to repair the defects from cancer and traumatism or in repair of the cleft lip deformities.