ABSTRACT
Techniques for achieving appropriate wound healing with minimal aesthetic or functional
deformity of the microsurgical flap donor site are often assumed to be of minor importance
or blatantly overlooked. Surprisingly, an analysis of 115 consecutive free-tissue
transfers by a single surgeon within a community hospital setting, revealed an overall
donor-site complication rate of 31 percent, with significant disability from major
complications occurring in 10 percent of cases. Recognition of the projected morbidity
of alternative donor sites therefore deserves scrutiny, with the same intensity as
does consideration for flap selection, previously done solely to fulfill the requirements
of the recipient site. While flap viability has previously been the criterion for
success, the future dictates that morbidity at the donor site be an equally important
consideration.
