The full-thickness retroangular flap.

Abstract

In reconstruction of full-thickness nasal defects, excellent outcome from both the cosmetic and functional viewpoints is desired, and minimal scar in the flap donor site is favored. The authors describe a new reconstructive method in which full-thickness nasal defects are repaired with a full-thickness island flap collected from the nasolabial region, with the retrograde angular artery as the pedicle. The authors call this flap the full-thickness retroangular flap, and used it to repair full-thickness nasal defects generated by resection of cutaneous malignant tumors in 2 patients. The advantages of this method were the following: reconstruction of the external side of the nose and lining of the nasal cavity could be performed with one flap; the color and texture of the reconstructed nose were favorable; being an arterial flap, good blood circulation was obtained; and closing of the flap donor site was easy.