Thursday 1 October 2015

TUGs into VUGs and Friendly BUGs: Transforming the Gracilis Territory into the Best Secondary Breast Reconstructive Option

TUGsinto VUGs and Friendly BUGs: Transforming the Gracilis Territory into the Best Secondary Breast Reconstructive Option

Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 136(3):447-454, September 2015.


Park, Julie E.; Alkureishi, Lee W. T.; Song, David H.

The best secondary option for autologous breast reconstruction remains controversial. Limitations of the gracilis myocutaneous flap, including volume, skin paddle reliability, and donor morbidity, have been addressed by several modifications, hereby expanding its role in the decision tree for autologous breast reconstruction. This report documents the authors’ experience with gracilis flap breast reconstruction. This is a retrospective case series of a prospectively maintained database of patients undergoing breast reconstruction with the free gracilis myocutaneous flap, including the transverse upper gracilis, vertical upper gracilis, and bilateral stacked vertical upper gracilis.