Transplants from the shoulder-back region

Background. In spacious or multilayered tissue losses and cases of multiple locations of defects, a large amount of tissue with different components s uch as skin, fatty tissue, and muscle is required for proper reconstruction . A donor area which can meet these demands is the shoulder-back region wit h the subscapular vessel, which arises from the axillary artery. Patients and methods. We report our clinical experience with 12 patients in whom we reconstructed defects with transplants from this region. Results. Our anatomic investigation and measurements provided proof of a co nstant anatomy of the vessels with a length of the vascular pedicle and a v ascular diameter suitable for microvascular anastomosis. Based on our clini cal experience, the scapular, parascapular, and latissmus dorsi muscle tran splants are very suitable for the reconstruction of very large superficial defects or for the augmentation of multilayered defects of the upper aerodi gestive tract. Conclusions. A main advantage of the transplants from the shoulder and back region is the possibility of combining several transplants with a wide var iety of tissue combinations with one vascular pedicle for a single-step rec onstruction of multiple defects of the oral cavity and the pharynx.