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Lateral arm flap: indications and techniques

  • Zinon T. KokkalisEmail author
  • Efstratios Papanikos
  • George A. Mazis
  • Andreas Panagopoulos
  • Petros Konofaos
General Review • UPPERLIMB - MICROSURGERY
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Abstract

The lateral arm flap (LAF) is a popular flap transfer, which can be applied in many procedures. It was first described in 1982, and till then, even more clinical applications are suggested. It can be used as a free fasciocutaneous or fascial flap to cover small- to medium-sized soft tissue defects in head and neck but also in upper and lower extremity reconstruction, or as an osteocutaneous flap when vascularized bone graft is needed. We present the indications and contraindications, the advantages and disadvantages, as well as the step-by-step technique of harvesting a fasciocutaneous and an osteocutaneous flap and its complications. We conclude that the LAF is a reliable and versatile tool for reconstructive surgery, due to its anatomical characteristics and the low complication rate.

Keywords

Lateral arm flap Reconstructive surgery Microsurgery Defects 
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Notes

Compliance with ethical standards

Conflict of interest

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag France SAS, part of Springer Nature 2019

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Orthopaedics, University of Patras, School of MedicineUniversity Hospital of PatrasRio, PatrasGreece
  2. 2.Private practiceAthensGreece
  3. 3.Department of Plastic SurgeryUniversity of Tennessee Health Sciences CenterMemphisUSA

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