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Objective:To investigate the anatomy of rectus femoris muscle flap and the anterolateral thigh muscle flap and their clinical application in reconstruction of large soft tissue defects after the removal of oral malignant tumour.Methods:From December 2006 to June 2009, 8 specimens of Chinese adult cadavers fixed in 10% formaldehyde were dissected to perform anatomy of anterolateral thigh region at the School of Basic Medical Sciences, Kunming Medical University. Anatomical images were analysed using Image-Pro Plus 6.0. Then, a retrospective study was performed on 19 patients who had postoperative defects after oral malignant tumour surgery and the defects were reconstructed with the rectus femoris muscle flap and the anterolateral thigh muscle flap from March 2020 to July 2022 at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Affiliated Stomatology Hospital, Kunming Medical University. The postoperative defects of the 19 patients ranged from 3.0 cm×6.0 cm to 5.0 cm×10.0 cm. Ten rectus femoris muscle flaps, 8 anterolateral thigh muscle flaps and 1 combined rectus femoris muscle flap and anterolateral thigh muscle flap were used. The muscular flaps sized from 4.0 cm × 8.0 cm to 6.0 cm × 11.0 cm. Regular postoperative outpatient follow-ups were conducted.Results:The lengths of vessels of the harvested rectus femoris muscle flap and anterolateral thigh muscle flap were 63.4 mm± 12.9 mm and 112.5 mm± 19.6 mm, respectively. The starting outer diameters of the lateral circumflex thigh artery, the oblique branch of the lateral circumflex thigh artery and the descending branch of the lateral circumflex thigh artery were 2.92 mm±0.72 mm, 1.88 mm±0.23 mm and 2.29 mm±0.43 mm, respectively. Postoperative follow-up lasted for 7 to 32 months, with 17.5 months in average. Seventeen flaps were completely survived and the rectus femoris muscle flap was completely mucosalised 5 weeks after surgery. However, 2 rectus femoris muscle flaps had necrosis of which one was changed to a tongue flap reconstruction and the other encountered flap necrosis during postoperative radiotherapy and healed after debridement and dressing changes. There was no postoperative complication in the donor sites. Other than the 2 patients, all other 17 patients had satisfactory clinical outcomes.Conclusion:Both of the starting outer diameters and length of vessels of the femoris muscle flap and the anterolateral thigh muscle flap meet the requirements for reconstruction of maxillofacial defects, and both muscular flaps are simple to prepare, in good reconstructive results with few complication, as well as an excellent outcome. They are feasible approaches for reconstruction of large soft tissue defects left after the removal of an oral malignant tumour.
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Objective To investigate the clinical effect of reconstruction of soft tissue defect in non-weight-bearing area of the foot with trimmed free anterolateral thigh muscle flap combined with skin grafting. Methods From January, 2009 to January, 2017, 25 patients with soft tissue defect in foot and ankle were treated with transplan-tation of the trimmed free anterolateral thigh muscle flap combined with skin grafting. Of the 25 cases, there were 5 cases located in medial foot, 10 cases in dorsum of foot, 7 cases in external of foot and 3 cases in the toe. The areas of wounds were 8.0 cm ×6.0 cm to 18.0 cm ×10.0 cm. The anterolateral thigh muscle flap was from 4.0 cm ×3.0 cm ×0.3 cm to 10.0 cm×8.0 cm×1.5 cm. All the cases were operated in fracture fixation and wound without obvious infection. Early rehabilitative exercise under the protection of orthosis were done after 4 weeks of the operation and to assess. The injuried limb function were assessed in 1 year postoperatively according to Marylands scale. Results All cases were followed-up for 12 to 24 months (average, 16.2 months). All the muscle flaps and skin survived. The healing time were 12 to 24 days, averaged of 17.1 days. Patients could wear shoes normally and resume normal life and work. The appearance and walking function were satisfying and no further debulking procedures were needed . The surgery function were assessed according to Marylands scale, and the results was 22 cases for excellent, and 3 cases for good. Conclusion Ttrimmed free anterolateral thigh muscle flap combined with skin grafting is a good option for the repair of foot and ankle defect at non-weight-bearing area, and it has the advantages such as the doner site is small inva-sive, the muscle flap is easy to be harvested, and can avoid debulking surgery to wear shoes normally.