Acromiothoracic Venous Supercharge for Abdominal-Based Free Flaps in Breast and Chest Wall Reconstruction

Abstract

Background: Supercharging the venous drainage of free abdominal flaps in breast reconstruction has been well described in the literature, with diverse options used to augment venous drainage. In this study, we present our experience in using the acromiothoracic vein (ATV)/thoracoacromial vein (TAV) as a secondary recipient vein for the superficial inferior epigastric vein (SIEV) of free, muscle-sparing transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous flaps in breast and chest wall reconstruction.

Patients and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 523 free, muscle-sparing transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous flaps the senior author (H.H.K.) performed between 2009 and 2022 for breast and chest wall reconstruction; 46 cases required venous super drainage. Seventeen patients had ipsilateral SIEV anastomosed into the second internal mammary vein, 5 had ipsilateral SIEV anastomosed into flap second deep inferior epigastric vein, and 24 required the use of the (ATV)/(TAV), which will be the focus of this study.

Results: The study included 24 female (20 breast and 4 chest wall reconstruction) patients ranging in ages between 39 and 72 years. They had a median follow-up of 26 months. Combined muscle splitting and cutting techniques were used to expose the ATV/TAV. Increase in operative time ranged between 10 and 20 minutes (median, 12 minutes). Vein coupler sizes were 1.5 to 3 mm. The mean weight of the flap was 740 g (range, 460-1300 g). There was 1 flap failure (salvage with latissimus dorsi flap performed), whereas 23 flaps wholly survived.

Conclusions: The ATV/TAV is a suitable recipient for venous supercharging free flaps used to reconstruct breast and chest wall defects.