Cephalic vein: Saviour in the microsurgical reconstruction of breast and head and neck cancers
This is a 40-year-old male with cancer patient with recurrent rhabdomyosarcoma of right side maxilla []. The initial treatment was a wide local excision followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The patient underwent right total maxillectomy with orbital exentration and radical neck dissection on right side []. The defect was planned to cover with free Antero Lateral Thigh (ALT) flap. After the flap inset the flap artery was planned to anastomose to the facial artery. There were no veins in the ipsilateral side of the neck and the Internal Jugular Vein (IJV) was ligated at the lower part of the neck [], not suitable for anastomosis. The flap vein was not reaching the opposite side of neck. We harvested the cephalic vein from the right arm, transposed, and an end-to-end anastomosis done [Figure and ]. The flap settled uneventfully [] except for the extra-scar at the cephalic vein harvest donor site [].