Free Tissue Transfer Of The Lateral Thigh And Anterolateral Thigh

The anterolateral thigh flap (ALT), which was first described by Song (1984), is now well-established in reconstructive microsurgery as a workhorse flap. It is a versatile flap with many attributes that include long vascular pedicle with adequate vessel diameter, ability to harvest large areas of skin without added donor site morbidity, adaptability for use as a sensate flap, use as a flow-through flap for vascular gaps in the extremities, a two-team approach allows simultaneous flap harvest and resection/debridement of the recipient area, the flexibility of the flap to be folded or use of a double skin-paddle and its use as a chimeric flap to reconstruct composite soft tissue defects almost anywhere in the body. It can also be used for breast reconstruction if lower abdominal skin is unavailable due to previous scars or surgeries.The ALT flap is relatively easy to harvest if the principles of perforator dissection are followed. The vascularity of the flap is reliable even though there is some variability in its perforator anatomy.