Latissimus Dorsi Flap

Abstract

Like the first myocutaneous flap, the latissimus dorsi flap was described as early as 1896 by Tansini [377] and used for defect cover following radical mastectomy by D’Este in 1912 [83]. Despite its excellent suitability for chest wall reconstruction, the flap did not become popular until the 1970s, when a number of publications appeared in which the previously described advantages were confirmed, and further indications for defect cover in the area of the shoulder and arm were proposed [43, 44, 247, 253, 260, 270, 287, 357]. The first application of a pedicled latissimus dorsi flap for reconstruction in the head and neck area was described by Quillen in 1978 [300], whereas the microvascular transfer of this flap was performed by Watson in 1979 [413]. In further publications, the reliability and safety of this flap, especially its usefulness for reconstructions in the head and neck area, was demonstrated [140, 249, 250, 307, 309, 353, 413]. In all these reports, a great variety of application possibilities were described. This broad spectrum of indications was possible because of the large amount of tissue available, offering various possibilities for changing the flap design, and the long and high-caliber vascular pedicle, making microvascular anastomoses technically easy [269, 307, 309, 312].