Specializing in Flap Surgery to Repair Areas of the Body

The Center for Microsurgery at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center Department of Plastic Surgery in Cleveland, Ohio offers flap surgery to areas of the body that have lost skin, fat, muscle movement and/or skeletal support.

Transporting Live, Healthy Tissue

Unlike skin grafts, flap surgery involves transporting healthy, live tissue from one location of the body to another. A flap can be soft tissue or it may be skin, muscle, bone, fat, nerve or fascia.

Latest Types of Flap Surgery

There are several different types of flap surgery methods that are used at the Center for Microsurgery at UH. The type of flap method depends on the location of the flap and the structures that need to be repaired.

The types of flaps our surgeons use include:

• Local flap: Located next to the wound, the skin remains attached at one end so that the blood supply is left intact
• Regional flap: Uses a section of tissue that is attached by a specific blood vessel
• Bone/soft tissue flap: This type of flap is often used when bone and the overlying skin are transported to a new location.
• Musculocutaneous flap (muscle and skin flap): This type of flap includes the muscle and overlying skin and subcutaneous tissue. This type of flap is often used to rebuild a breast following a breast cancer. They may include skin, muscle, bone, fat or fascia.
• Microvascular free flap: Involves detaching and reattaching skin and blood vessels from one site of the body to another site. Microsurgery is used to attach the blood vessels.