A Simple Tool for Teaching Flap Design with Digital Images

Abstract

Defects created by excision or Mohs micrographic surgery must be analyzed and surgical options including flaps must be considered. Teaching flap design to dermatology trainees is often done at the bedside of the patient with the trainee describing or marking a proposed flap. Open discussion of the options in this way is sometimes unnerving for the patient. Blackboard discussions or drawings are limited in their realism. To describe a rapid, simple method using commonly available software to allow a trainee to draw and redraw a proposed flap on a digital image of the defect without the time and cost of printing. We describe a feature in the widely used presentation program Microsoft PowerPoint which can be used to draw on an imported digital image in various colors. A digital photograph taken at the bedside can quickly be loaded into PowerPoint and viewed as a full-screen picture on a computer. Using an electronic pen, multiple lines can be drawn and erased on the picture, allowing surgical planning and teaching away from the bedside. Design and analysis of potential incision lines for a flap can be done quickly using a digital image and commonly available software, allowing a new option for teaching flap design.