The use of free flaps for reconstructing skin defects resulting from the removal of skin and soft tissue tumors

The authors discuss the indications for the use of free flaps to cover skin defects due to the removal of skin and soft tissue tumors. One main advantage a free flap when dealing with a malignant tumor is that a wide dissection is almost always possible, since a free flap allows a substantial amount of tissue to be moved in a one-stage transfer to repair the defect. Another advantage is that tissue located close to the tumor site is not used in the reconstruction. Further, since the main vascular supply is almost always sited along the base of the free flap, dead space is kept to a minimum because the raw surface undergoes primary closure. One further strong point is that the flap is resistant to infection. Finally, many different free flaps have been developed and the patient can participate in the selection of the donor site. The authors present some representative cases of free flaps taken from different sites.