Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Sep/Oct;36(5):481-484.
doi: 10.1097/IOP.0000000000001614.

Perfusion in Upper Eyelid Flaps: Effects of Rotation and Stretching Measured With Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging in Patients

Cu Dybelius Ansson  1 , Johanna V Berggren  1 , Kajsa Tenland  1 , Rafi Sheikh  1 , Jenny Hult  1 , Ulf Dahlstrand  1 , Sandra Lindstedt  1 , Malin Malmsjö  1
Affiliations

Perfusion in Upper Eyelid Flaps: Effects of Rotation and Stretching Measured With Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging in Patients

Cu Dybelius Ansson et al. Ophthalmic Plast Reconstr Surg. 2020 Sep/Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate how the blood perfusion in human upper eyelid skin flaps is affected by the length of the flap and the degree of stretching and rotation of the flap.

Methods: Twenty-nine upper eyelids were dissected as part of a blepharoplastic procedure in patients. The 1-cm wide proximal end of the flap remains attached, to mimic a random pattern skin flap (hereafter called a "skin flap"). Blood perfusion was measured with laser speckle contrast imaging before and after the flap was stretched with forces of 0.5, 1, and 2 N. The flap was then rotated 90°, and the same tensions were applied.

Results: Blood perfusion decreased gradually from the base to the tip of the flap. The flap was only well perfused in the proximal 1 cm (60% at 0.5 cm and 37% at 1.0 cm) and was minimally perfused beyond 2 cm (22% at 2.0 cm). Stretching the nonrotated flaps affected perfusion slightly (decreased to 43% at 0.5 cm). Simply rotating the flaps by 90° had no significant effect on the perfusion. The combination of rotation (90°) and stretching reduced the perfusion to 22% at 2 N, when measured 0.5 cm from the base.

Conclusions: Blood perfusion in upper eyelid skin flaps decreases rapidly with distance from the base of the flap. Rotating and stretching the skin flap reduces blood perfusion even further, leading to minimal perfusion in this kind of flap at distances greater than 1.5 cm from the base.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Patrinely JR, Marines HM, Anderson RL. Skin flaps in periorbital reconstruction. Surv Ophthalmol 1987;31:249–261.
    1. Berggren J, Tenland K, Ansson CD, et al. Revascularization of free skin grafts overlying modified hughes tarsoconjunctival flaps monitored using laser-based techniques. Ophthalmic Plast Reconstr Surg 2019;35:378–382.
    1. Zötterman J, Bergkvist M, Iredahl F, et al. Monitoring of partial and full venous outflow obstruction in a porcine flap model using laser speckle contrast imaging. J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg 2016;69:936–943.
    1. Karakawa R, Yano T, Yoshimatsu H, et al. Use of laser speckle contrast imaging for successful fingertip replantation. Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open 2018;6:e1924.
    1. Molnár E, Molnár B, Lohinai Z, et al. Evaluation of laser speckle contrast imaging for the assessment of oral mucosal blood flow following periodontal plastic surgery: an Exploratory Study. Biomed Res Int 2017;2017:4042902.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources