Endoscope-assisted rectus abdominis muscle flap harvest for chest wall reconstruction: early experience.

Abstract

We performed endoscope-assisted rectus abdominis muscle flap harvests on 2 patients with anterior chest wall defects. For the procedure, a spindle-shaped anterior fascia and the upper two-thirds of the rectus abdominis muscle were elevated endoscopically from an incision at the umblicus and transferred to the chest wall defect through a subcutaneous tunnel. Endoscopic harvest of the rectus abdominis muscle flap minimizes postoperative scarring caused by cutting off the flap, affording expectations of good cosmetic results. Furthermore, this surgical procedure is less invasive, relieves postoperative pain, and enables reduction of donor site morbidity.