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Kumar et al. Plast Aesthet Res 2017;4:76-81 Plastic and
DOI: 10.20517/2347-9264.2017.16
Aesthetic Research

www.parjournal.net
Original Article Open Access

Reverse latissimus dorsi muscle flap for

complex back defects: our experience

Kumaraswamy Mohan Kumar, Shantha Kumar Shivalingappa, Veena Prabhakar Waiker, Udaya Shankar Odeyar

Department of Plastic Surgery, M.S. Ramaiah Medical College, Bangalore 560054, India.
Correspondence to: Dr. Kumaraswamy Mohan Kumar, Department of Plastic Surgery, M.S. Ramaiah Medical College, New bel Road, Bangalore
560054, India. E-mail: doctorkums@rediffmail.com

How to cite this article: Kumar KM, Shivalingappa SK, Waiker VP, Odeyar US. Reverse latissimus dorsi muscle flap for complex back defects: our
experience. Plast Aesthet Res 2017;4:76-81.

Dr. Kumaraswamy Mohan Kumar is a plastic surgeon presently working as an Assistant Professor at Ramaiah
Medical College, Bengaluru. He completed his MBBS from Sri Siddhartha Medical College, Tumkur in the year 2001.
He completed his MS (general surgery) from Government Medical College, Mysore and MCh in plastic surgery at
Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Bengaluru in 2010. He has special interests in reconstructive
surgery, burns, hand and microsurgery. He has 8 publications to date.

ABSTRACT
Article history: Aim: The aim was to study the effectiveness of the reverse latissimus dorsi muscle flap
Received: 24-02-2017 in reconstruction of complex defects of the back. Methods: This is a retrospective study
Accepted: 18-04-2017 of patients who underwent reverse latissimus dorsi flap for reconstruction of the back,
Published: 26-05-2017 in a tertiary care hospital. The patient demographics, etiology, surgery indications and
complications were studied. Results: The study had five patients between 2012 and 2016
Key words: who underwent reverse latissimus dorsi flap for reconstruction. The flaps survived in all
Reverse latissimus dorsi muscle flap, the patients. Two patients had complications, unrelated to the latissimus dorsi muscle flap.
complex back defects, Conclusion: The vascularity of the flap is reliable can be used to obliterate the dead space,
reverse turn over flap can be used to control the infection, in complex cases of the back.

INTRODUCTION versatile flap based on the thoracodorsal vessels and
the perforators from the posterior intercostal and lumbar
The back has the vertebrae in the middle and exposure perforators. It is a type V muscle flap based on the
of the bone gives us a complex defect. The etiology Mathes and Nahai classification. The latissimus dorsi
[2]
includes myelomeningocele defects, post excision muscle is frequently used based on the thoracodorsal
defects of the back, and pressure sores. The various pedicle. The reverse latissimus dorsi flap is based on the
options for coverage of myelomeningocele defects secondary pedicles which are the perforators from the
include local skin flaps, skin graft, latissimus dorsi muscle posterior intercostal and lumbar vessels. The reverse
[2]
flap and othervariations. The latissimus dorsi flap is a latissimus dorsi flap is used for coverage of the midline
[1]
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