For all " free flaps ", the blood supply is reconstituted using microsurgical techniques to reconnect the artery ( brings blood into the flap ) and vein ( allows blood to flow out of the flap ).
22.
The gracilis microsurgical free flap is commonly used in the reconstruction of upper and lower limbs, in breast reconstruction and as a free functioning flap to restore forearm function or in dynamic reconstruction of facial paralysis . Gracilis Muscles Clinical Role
23.
Free flaps of skin, muscle, bone, fat, or a combination may be removed from the body, moved to another site on the body, and reconnected to a blood supply by suturing arteries and veins as small as 1 to 2 millimeters in diameter.
24.
Furthermore, if the nasal defect is beyond the wound-correction scope of a septal mucosal flap, the alternative techniques are either an inferiorly based pericranial-flap ( harvested from the frontal bone ) or a free flap of temporoparietal fascia ( harvested from the head ), either of which can be lined with free grafts of mucosa to achieve the nasal reconstruction.
