abstract
- Scar and defect in the lower face always lead to serious facial deformity and asymmetry. Conventional method such as skin graft or free flap is hard to obtain a satisfactory outcome. In this article, we present a skin expanding technique. An expanded flap was designed to repair the lower face scar or defect on submental and submandibular regions. A tissue expander was implanted into the region and inflated for 2 to 3 months. After removing the expander, we harvested the flap as a rotation flap to repair the lower facial defect. The longest follow-up period was 3 years. All of the flaps were well matched to the surrounding skin with respect to color, texture, and thickness. An expanded flap on submental and submandibular regions is suitable to repair a lower face defect.