Year : 2016

Volume : Volume 6

Issue : Issue 3

Address for correspondence :
Dr. Mayur Manoharrao Shingade
mayur@gmail.com

Abstract

Background:  The centrally-pedicled nasolabial flap provides supple soft-tissue lining and adequate flexibility to the cheek, which facilitates excellent mouth opening on a long-term basis. The ease of harvest and negligible aesthetic morbidity makes it a viable option instead of superiorly or inferiorly based nasolabial flap. Though facial artery being an important vessel, its Doppler sonographic features are not well known in the anterior face. With colour Doppler as moving blood is encountered, the vessel lights up, even if the vessel is too small to be resolved on the gray-scale image. Considerable confusion does exist about the pattern of its blood supply and is generally misconstrued as a random pattern flap, based on the facial artery. This study is designed to resolve the dilemma regarding vascular basis for centrally-pedicled nasolabial flap using a Colour Doppler as a pre-operative diagnostic modality.

Keywords: Centrally-pedicled nasolabial flap, ultrasonography, colour  Doppler.