Arterialized venous flaps: a review of the literature.

The arterialized venous flaps are highly regarded in microsurgical and reconstructive surgeries based on advantages of ease of design and harvest without the need to perform deep dissection, no sacrifice of a major artery at the donor site, no limitation of the donor sites, and less donor-site morbidity. Many experimental investigations and clinical applications have been reported. However, their survivals are still inconsistent, and survival mechanisms remain controversial. In this review, we update the existing problems, experimental studies for survival mechanisms, clinical practices, and methods developed to improve their survivals.