Reconstruction scalp defects after malignant tumor resection with anterolateral thigh flaps

Abstract

Objective: Some patients experience massive neglected scalp malignant tumors involving the soft tissues and bone. Management of these tumors includes thorough tissue resection to obtain negative margins and cover the defects with enough composite tissues. In this article, we presented our experiences of reconstructions with free anterolateral thigh (ALT) flaps.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of 6 patients who had a single-stage tumor removal and free-tissue transfer over the last 10 years. All the patients were treated with ALT flaps with or without fascia lata according to the defects.

Results: The size of the flaps ranged from 8 to 25 cm in length and from 6 to 20 cm in width. All patients healed well without major complications except for 1 case that partial skin-graft loss occurred at the donor sites.

Conclusions: Scalp malignant tumors are generally associated with high mortality rates, and the reconstruction surgery is quite complicated. We demonstrate that free ALT flap transfer yields acceptable survival with favorable safety.