An Experimental Study of the Flow-Through Venous Flap: Investigation of the Width and Area of Survival with One Flow-Through Vein Preserved

ABSTRACT

A quantitative analysis was undertaken to investigate the width and area of survival of flow-through venous flaps in 20 ears of 10 rabbits. The 3.0- × 3.0-cm flap models, which included one flow-through vein, were prepared with additional circulation from the graft bed and surrounding tissue excluded, as far as possible. The flaps were divided as follows: Group A- composite grafts (n = 10), and Group B- flow-through venous flaps (n = 10). All flaps in Group A became necrotic and all those in Group B showed partial survival along the flow-through vein. The average survival width was 1.10 ± 0.48 cm, and the survival rate was 44 ± 19.3 percent. Microangiograms revealed patency of the flow-through vein in all flaps of Group B. Histologically, there tended to be progressively more fibrous tissue in the area further away from the flow-through vein. The model is useful to investigate the width and area of survival in flow-through venous flaps.