Oncological surgery of the parotid region sometimes requires the sacrifice of the facial nerve (parotid cancers, extensive skin cancers of the face, soft tissue sarcomas). The sacrificed portion of nerve can be reconstructed by a vascularized nerve graft, especially if the patient must undergo radiotherapy after surgery. In those cases, the facial nerve sacrifice is associated to an important loss of substance from the parotid region (skin, masseter, parotid, and sometimes jaw). Chimeric flap permit the reconstruction at the same time of the external skin, soft tissues for the volume (fat or muscle), nerve, and bone (ramus and angular part of the mandible). An other option was to raise two flaps but it increased the risk of failure (time of surgery, number of anastomosis, etc.). Reconstruction with a chimeric flap appears to be an ideal choice. Based on these observations, we offer our patients at the Gustave Roussy Institute (Villejuif, France) a thoracodorsal artery perforator (TDAP) free flap including the motor nerve of the latissimus dorsi and vascularized by the thoraco-dorsal pedicle, thus allowing reconstruction in a single surgery. The surgical technique is explained with a step-by-step video. Functional outcomes are also shown in the video. The TDAP or chimeric scapulo-dorsal flap with vascularized nerve has many advantages in the facial reanimation of patients suffering from parotid region cancers. This video article explains surgical steps for other teams.
Keywords: facial nerve reconstruction; facial reanimation; nerve graft; parotidectomy.
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