Single Stage Deltopectoral Flap for Reconstruction of the Soft Tissue Defects of Neck

• Published in: Indian journal of otolaryngology, and head, and neck surgery Vol. 76; no. 4; pp. 3183 - 3188
• Main Authors: Devaraja, K, Sharma, Poorvi V, Nayak, Dipak Ranjan, Ramaswamy, Balakrishnan, Pillai, Suresh, Pujary, Kailesh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Delhi Springer India 01.08.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Head and Neck Surgery; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original Article; Otorhinolaryngology; Deltopectoral flap; Salvage surgery; Regional flaps; Neck dissection; Free flaps
• ISSN: 2231-3796; 0973-7707
• DOI: 10.1007/s12070-024-04641-8

Conventional deltopectoral flap is a two-staged procedure that needs a prolonged hospital stay, adding to treatment cost as well as patient discomfort and may delay adjuvant treatment. A modified deltopectoral flap, as a single-stage procedure, can overcome these shortcomings. This is a retrospective chart review of prospectively collected clinical data from a tertiary care hospital. The patients who had undergone a deltopectoral flap for the reconstruction of the neck defects at our hospital between July 2017 and July 2021 were considered for analysis. We present our results with a single-stage deltopectoral flap that was used to reconstruct medium-to-large-size defects of the neck, along with clinical illustrations as appropriate. This study was approved by the Institutional Ethical Committee (number: IEC 702–2021). A total of six patients received single-stage deltopectoral flap during the study period, of which five were for oncosurgical defects, and one had necrotizing fasciitis. The healing and overall outcome were optimal in all cases, with no flap loss. In two of these cases, the donor site was closed primarily, and in the rest, a split-thickness skin graft was used. Our results reiterate the tremendous practical value of a single-stage deltopectoral flap in the primary reconstruction of medium- to large-sized surgical defects of the neck, even in this era of free tissue transfer.