22.  How do you do a cervicofacial flap?  How is it different from a cervicopectoral flap?

Answer:
Numerous techniques for the cervicofacial flap have been described but they are generally based inferomedially.  These flaps are considered good for bringing tissue with excellent match in color, texture, hair and contour.  Juri and Juri described a technique in which an incision is made from the nasolabial groove upward and laterally to the cheek defect and the lateral canthus of the eye and then extended outward and downward passing anterior to the ear and sideburn and curving below and around the earlobe and then along the retroauricular hairline down to the mid-posterior line of the neck.  Wide undermining of the skin flap is performed to mobilize the entire area.  The cervical portion of the flap is advanced upward while the facial part is rotated forward to cover the defect.  The tenuous vascularity of the distal part of these flaps, especially in smokers, has led some surgeons to proposed a deep plane approach while others have advocated a superolateral flap based on the superficial temporal vessels.

The cervicopectoral flap is an axial rotation flap usually medially based fed by the anterior thoracic perforators from the internal mammary artery, although a variant is a laterally based flap fed by the thoracoacromial perforators.  It is considered a good method for covering large defects of the lower cheek below a line connecting the commissure of the mouth with the tragus of the ear.  The flap donor area on the chest is closed using a V-Y advancement technique.
 

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