Microvascular Transplantation of Prefabricated Free Thigh Flap

In my previous paper entitled ‘Vascular implantation into skin flap’1, it was experimentally shown that a ‘random-pattern’ skin flap, with a transposed vascular bundle or an artery alone buried underneath, could be transformed to a ‘secondary axial-pattern’ skin flap (unpublished findings). The establishment of vascular communications between the flap and implanted vessels is constant after a period of time. This type of secondary, or prefabricated, axial-pattern skin flap can be successfully used in island transposition or microvascular transfer. In the light of this rationale, a prefabricated free thigh flap was designed and put into practice in 1981.