Posterior auricular artery helix root free flap-part II: clinical application

Abstract

The surgical repair of full-thickness defects involving the alae nasi is complex. Pedicle flaps such as frontal and nasolabial flaps can be used, but require several interventions with different techniques. In contrast, free flaps from the foot of the ear helix allow the three layers of the nasal wings to be reconstructed in a single operation. Nevertheless, in the classical approach, the vascular pedicle is short. Although some authors have proposed raising the flap in a retrograde manner, this still yields a relatively short pedicle with narrow vessels. In the companion paper, we demonstrated that a posterior auricular artery helix root free flap (PAAHF) can be harvested from the posterior auricular vessels, thus increasing the useful pedicle length. The case of a patient with basal cell carcinoma of the left ala is presented here. A right helix root free flap was anastomosed with the facial vessels at the left mandibular notch. This new flap overcomes the main limitation of the classical helix root flap, namely the length of the pedicle. It has all of the morphological qualities of the classical flap, but with simpler vascular assembly, since autologous venous grafts and complex anastomoses are not required.

Keywords: ear; face; free tissue flaps; microsurgery; nose.