The Africa Temporal Scalp Flap: A Novel Flap for Facial Reconstruction

Although a number of flaps exist for nasal reconstruction, severe scarring of the forehead after burn injury led to the development of a novel two-stage flap based on the superficial temporal artery. The Africa Temporal Scalp (ATS) flap is composed of an axial ascending part on the superficial temporal artery, and a descending anterior extension for reconstruction of the midface. This is a retrospective analysis of all patients who underwent ATS flap surgery on the MV Africa Mercy. During the 7.5-year period, the ATS flap was applied to 45 facial reconstructions, with a median age of 28 years (range 19 months to 51 years). The main indications were previous burn injury (n = 27, 60%) and noma (n = 15, 33.3%). The majority of the flaps were used to reconstruct the lower third of the nose (n = 39, 86.7%), and the remaining six were for the lips or cheek. Experience allowed for earlier division than 3 weeks depending on the length of the flap, and the recipient site. There was one partial flap loss, one infection requiring revision, and two injuries to frontal branch of the facial nerve. The ATS flap is a novel two-stage flap that has proved especially versatile when forehead flaps are unavailable for nasal reconstruction due to extensive forehead scarring. The ATS flap reliably provides ample supple skin, and the donor site is effectively obscured from view, located in the periphery of the face.