Aesthetic Units in Skin Grafting of the Face

Abstract

In patients with difficult facial reconstructions, one of the most important requirements is to plan well, before beginning treatment. It is known that it is important to consider the aesthetic unit of the face. Each cutaneous area is to be reconstructed by a single, separate graft or flap. We present 4 patients illustrating difficult situations. Special attention has been drawn to the choices for each separate graft or flap. This study was made possible with the aid of a medical illustrator who prepared a real dissection of our final reconstruction. In fact, after these difficult operations, we often forget exactly what was previously done and we believe that a good catamnesis of our surgical adventure can be useful to share with other surgeons who deal with the same difficult procedures.