Frontonasal myocutaneous flap based on the transversus nasalis muscle

Because of its particular location, the nose is an extremely important anatomical region,given its prominent rolein social interaction. Therefore, invasive surgery of the nose should be followed by reconstructive procedure that should seek to respect its morphological and aesthetic features as much as possible. Numerous reconstructive solutions have been proposedsince ancient time, but the use of adjacent skin is the preferred repair method,because it has the same color and texture as the area to be reconstructed and respects aesthetic units and subunits. The glabellar region is often the only area with excess skin available for reconstruction,even when excisio has been generous. In 1997 Maruyama and Iwahira proposed an axial frontonasal flap based on the lateral branch of the angular artery to cover defects of the distal third of the nose. In this article we presented a modification of the flap suggested by Maruyama and Iwahira, with the pedicle including the transverse part of the nasal muscle in order to make the advancement safer in terms of surviavl of the flap. The axial myocutaneous flap of the nasal dorsum seems to be a viable repair procedure for soft tissue loss of the distal third of the nose ( including the nasal tip and the alae nase to the nasolabial fold ) , because it is easy and safe to perform.