Inguinal Flap Transplanted to the Neck

Objective. The inguinal flap is a fascio-cutaneous, pedicled or free flap. It receives its blood supply from the epigastric artery, a branch of the femoral artery, and its venous return is via the epigastric vein, which flows into the femoral vein. The primary endpoint was the success of the double arteriovenous anastomosis, with patency test at the end of the procedure. The secondary endpoint was operative time, which assessed the learning curve for dissection and anastomosis times.Methods. This prospective, single-center, single-operator study was carried out at the microsurgery laboratory of the École de chirurgie du Fer à Moulin from February to May 2023, using an experimental series of ten albino rats. Ten albino rats, male or female, weighing between 200 and 350 grams approximately will be used for this thesis. The animals were anesthetized intramuscularly with 10mL of Ketamine (50mg/mL) and 1.5mL of Chlorpromazine (5mg/mL), effective for around 3 hours. The inguinal and cervical regions will have been trimmed pre-operatively.Results. Both anastomoses were patent in 3 out of 10 rats (30% of cases) (Fig. 4).The arterial anastomosis alone was patent in 3 rats (#3, #6, #10), and the venous anastomosis alone was patent in 1 rat (#7). For 3 rats, both anastomoses were not permeable. Overall operating time was reduced from 202 minutes to 129 minutes in the final sessions. In 10 sessions, this represents a 36% reduction in surgical time. More specifically, dissection time (Table 1) fell from 116 minutes to 76 minutes. Microsurgery time (Table 2) fell from 67 minutes to 48 minutes. In 10 sessions, 40 minutes of dissection time and 19 minutes of microsurgery time were saved.Conclusions. This scientific work has highlighted the demanding nature of microsurgical practice, which requires ongoing training in a constant quest for excellence. It's a long journey, in which regular practice and absolute rigor enable the gradual acquisition of skills.