The anterolateral thigh flap can provide a large skin paddle nourished by a long and large-caliber pedicle and can be harvested by\r\ntwo-team work.Most importantly, the donor-site morbidity is minimal.However, the anatomic variations decreased its popularity.\r\nBy adapting free-style flap concepts, such as preoperative mapping of the perforators and being familiar with retrograde perforator\r\ndissection, this disadvantage had been overcome gradually. Furthermore, several modifications widen its clinical applications:\r\nthe fascia lata can be included for sling or tendon reconstruction, the bulkiness could be created by including vastus lateralis\r\nmuscle or deepithelization of skin flap, the pliability could be increased by suprafascial dissection or primary thinning, the pedicle\r\nlength could be lengthening by proximally eccentric placement of the perforator, and so forth. Combined with these technical and\r\nconceptual advancements, the anterolateral thigh flap has become the workhorse flap for soft-tissue reconstructions from head to\r\ntoe.
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