A loosened section of tissue separated from the surrounding tissues except at its base.
A flat piece attached to something, especially a piece of skin or tissue still attached to the body at one side and used in grafts.
Section of tissue used to cover a bum or other injury (e.g., pedicle flap, a tubular gathering of skin, one end of which is left attached in the original site while the other end is freed for attachment in another part of the body). When the flap has healed at the new site, the other end is also detached and the remaining skin is sewn in place.
A strip of tissue dissected away from the underlying structures but left attached at one end so that it retains its blood and nerve supply. The flap is then used to repair a defect in another part of the body. The free end of the flap is sewn into the area to be repaired and after about three weeks, when the flap has ‘healed into its new site, the other end is detached and the remainder of the flap is sewn in. Flaps are commonly used by plastic surgeons in treating patients who have suffered severe skin and tissue loss after bums or injuries not amenable to repair by split skin grafting. Skin flaps are also used to cover the end of a bone in an amputated limb.
A section of tissue (usually skin) separated from underlying structures but still attached at its distal end by a pedicle through which it receives its blood supply. The free end may then be sutured into a new position to cover a defect caused by trauma or excision of diseased tissue. A free flap involves detachment of a section of tissue, often including bone and muscle, to a distant site where the artery and vein supplying it are anastomosed to adjacent vessels and the tissue is sutured into place.