Measurement of alternative blood flow in the porcine panniculus carnosus myocutaneous flap.

The dependence of a transposed myocutaneous flap on its own vascular pedicle for survival is time-related. The number of days required to establish effective sustaining perfusion from the periphery was assessed. Based on flap perfusion with associated vascular compression as monitored by the laser Doppler and dermofluorometer, adequate perfusion levels occurred at days 7 to 10 in the pig panniculus carnosus myocutaneous flap. It was established that all flaps will survive independent of the vascular pedicle when the laser Doppler readings are above 40 mV and the dermofluorometric readings are above 20%. The establishment of this baseline information now allows for the investigation of pharmacologic manipulation of the blood flow to diminish the duration of dependence on the transposed vascular pedicle.