"Depressor Flaps" for Large Defects of the Lower Lip and Mental Region

Innervated muscle cutaneous flaps are the result of a long evolution in labial reconstruction techniques. The use of these flaps to reconstruct the lower lip is now common practice thanks to such techniques as the stair case advancement flap, the Karapandzic flap,and the gate flap. In contrast, techniques that make use of depressor muscles of the lower lip are underutilized. In 1995 we published our first results on the reconstruction of full-thickness lateral losses of substance in the lower lip using a depressor anguli oris muscle cutaneous flap.In 1998 we published an article on the use of a platysma muscle cutaneous flap to reconstruct losses of substance in the labial region that extend beyond the modiolus, where most of the depressor anguli oris fibers are killed during the demolition stage.Both techniques allow us to reconstruct all labial layers in a one-stage operation.