Commentary

This article describes a useful and elegant method for dealing with what can be a considerable problem. The robustness of this flap can be increased further by incorporating the frontalis muscle in the base of the flap. This maneuver assures a good blood supply. This flap is also valuable because it can be used in the presence of infection, for example, chronic frontal sinusitis, often much to the amazement of the neurosurgeon. It is interesting how much vascularized bone can be transferred using either a galeofrontalis pedicle or a temporal-galeal pedicle. The former will reconstruct and support a nose; the latter can reconstruct the entire mandible from angle to angle.[1a] The galea is one of our true reconstructive friends in the craniofacial region.

REFERENCES

• 1a Fukuta K , Avery C , Jackson I T. Long-term complications of the galeal-frontalis flap in craniofacial surgery.  Eur J Plast Surg . 1993;  16 174-176