Repair of skin and soft tissue defects of auricle and donor site with relay flap

Abstract

To investigate the effectiveness of relay flap on repairing skin and soft tissue defect of auricle and donor site. Between May 2014 and January 2016, 10 patients with auricular tumor were repaired by relay flap. There were 4 males and 6 females with an average age of 35 years (range, 21-69 years). There were basal cell carcinoma in 2 cases, pigmented nevus in 3 cases, papilloma in 4 cases, and Bowen's disease in 1 case. The size of the residual wound after tumor resection ranged from 1.1 cm×1.0 cm to 2.3 cm×1.7 cm. The superficial temporal artery posterior auricular perforator flap was used to repair the auricle defect wound. The size of flap ranged from 1.5 cm×1.4 cm to 2.8 cm×2.0 cm. The first donor site was repaired with the posterior auricular artery perforator propulsive flap. The size of flap ranged from 4.0 cm×2.0 cm to 7.5 cm×3.0 cm. The wound of the second donor site was sutured directly at the first stage. All the flaps survived. The donor and recipient sites healed by first intention. The patients were followed up 10-28 months, with an average of 14.2 months. The appearance of reconstructed auricle was satisfactory, and the tumor had no recurrence. The appearance, color, texture, and thickness of the flaps were basically consistent with the recipient site, without obvious scar, traction deformity, or obvious abnormal sensation. The relay flap has advantages of reliable blood supply, the simple operation method, the concealed donor site, which is a good choice to repair the skin and soft tissue defect of auricle and donor site.