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The subclavicular versus the supraclavicular route for pectoralis major myocutaneous flap: a cadaveric anatomic study

  • Head and Neck
  • Published:
European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to determine if the subclavicular route of rotation improved the pectoralis major myocutaneous flap’s ability to reach head and neck sites in comparison to the traditional supraclavicular rotation. We dissected 50 flaps in 25 fresh adult male cadavers. The length of the pedicle and the flap’s ability to reach five anatomical head and neck sites (laryngeal prominence of thyroid cartilage, mentum, angle of the mandible, external auditory canal, and orbit) were tested by supraclavicular and subclavicular rotation. Although the average length of the flap’s pedicle was higher when the subclavicular rotation was employed, there was no statistical difference between the two techniques concerning the flap’s ability to reach the studied sites. Our results suggest that the subclavicular route apparently adds little to the reconstruction of head and neck defects using the pectoralis major myocutaneous flap. We believe that the indication of this technique should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis before it is recommended to keep from unnecessarily increasing the potential morbidity of the reparative procedure.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest with any financial support or any commercial source that may, directly or indirectly, interfere with the results reported on the present article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Hospital de Ensino da Faculdade de Medicina do ABC, Rua Silva Jardim nº 470, São Bernardo do Campo, 09715-090, Brazil

    Christiana Maria Ribeiro Salles Vanni, Fábio Roberto Pinto, Leandro Luongo de Matos & Jossi Ledo Kanda

  2. Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Cidade de São Paulo, Rua Cesario Galeno nº 448, São Paulo, 03071-000, Brazil

    Maria Graciela Luongo de Matos

  3. Rua Carlos Tiago Pereira nº 520, São Paulo, 04150-080, Brazil

    Fábio Roberto Pinto

Authors
  1. Christiana Maria Ribeiro Salles Vanni
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  2. Fábio Roberto Pinto
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  3. Leandro Luongo de Matos
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  4. Maria Graciela Luongo de Matos
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  5. Jossi Ledo Kanda
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Correspondence to Fábio Roberto Pinto.

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Vanni, C.M.R.S., Pinto, F.R., de Matos, L.L. et al. The subclavicular versus the supraclavicular route for pectoralis major myocutaneous flap: a cadaveric anatomic study. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 267, 1141–1146 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-010-1203-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-010-1203-5

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