Carotid artery and soft tissue reconstruction with superficial femoral artery-sartorius muscle-anteromedial thigh chimeric free flap: A case report and review of the literature

Tumoral involvement of the carotid artery may require en-bloc resection in order to achieve a better regional control. Among the carotid reconstruction methods at disposal, autologous tissues appear to be more reliable in cases with high risk of infection and poor tissue healing like in radiated necks. We describe a case of a 55 year old man, who suffered from recurrent squamous cell carcinoma in the neck region, invading the common carotid artery. After en-bloc resection of the tumor together with skin, internal jugular vein, vagus nerve and common carotid artery, carotid reconstruction was performed with a flow-through chimeric flap based on superficial femoral vessels (15 cm). After resection of the tumor, the flap was used to replace the soft tissue defect (23 × 12 cm). Anteromedial thigh skin paddle (8 × 5 cm) and sartorius muscle (12 × 3 cm) were included in the flap. The superficial femoral vessels were reconstructed with 8-mm ringed polytetrafluoroethylene graft interposition. Thanks to an accurate surgical planning and a 2-team approach, the ischemia time of the leg was 42 min and there were no limb ischemia nor pathologic neurological signs after surgery. During the 12-month follow up, no other complication was registered. In our experience, microsurgical carotid reconstruction represents a reliable option with important advantages such as resistance to infection, optimal size matching, and good tissue healing between the irradiated carotid stump and the vascular graft.