Free tissue transplantation in the 90's

Free tissue transplantation is now a well-established discipline and a common phrase in the medical literature. Only as recent as two decades ago, free tissue transplantation with microvascular anastomosis was a daring venture attempted by a selected few. It was considered to be a heroic effort of last resort when other reconstructive options were exhausted. Reconstructive surgeons were limited by tissue availability before free tissue transplantation with microsurgical techniques. With pedicle flaps, patients were subjected to multiple operations and hospitalizations and long periods of immobilization. The possibility of moving a large block of tissue to another body location by anastomosing its vascular pedicle with local blood vessels was tantalizing to reconstructive surgeons. The ability to perform anastomosis on small vessels had to be mastered before such a dream could be realized.