Retrospective assessment of donor scars on the free anterolateral thigh flap / Papers of The 10th Japan Scar Workshop


Papers of The 10th Japan Scar Workshop
4. Retrospective assessment of donor scars on the free anterolateral thigh flap Fumiaki Shimizu, Manami Kusatsu, Miwako Oatari, Wu Wei Min, Miyuki Uehara Department of Plastic Surgery, Oita University Hospital
The anterolateral thigh (ALT) flap is one of the most reliable flaps, especially for head and neck reconstruction. Since it was first reported by Song et al., many authors have reported its use. However, a disadvantage of using this flap is that a long scar is left on the lateral thigh region. Furthermore, its axis is vertical to the relaxed skin tension line (RSTL), and its use sometimes results in a hypertrophic scar. However, it is not rare case that its donor scar did not form hypertrophic scar, even though its axis is vertical to RSTL. The results differ by patient. In this study, we retrospectively assessed donor scars of the free ALT flap to find risk factors for such scars. The results showed that hypertrophic scars tended to occur in younger patients. Further studies are necessary to elucidate the risk factors for ALT donor scars in order to prevent hypertrophic scar formation, especially in high-risk patients.
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