Rotation flaps to reconstruct nasal tip defects following mohs surgery

BACKGROUND. Skin cancer involving the nasal tip is fairly common. The repair of these nasal tip defects is often a challenging opportunity. The current range of reconstructive techniques include partial closure and second intention healing to skin grafts and midline forehead flaps. OBJECTIVE. Her's toe present an interesting method of nasal tip repair harvesting a rotation flap that uses adjacent skirt from lateral and upper bridge of nose. METHODS. Using three case studies examples of the rotation flap are demonstrated to reconstruct the nasal tip defects following Mohs surgery for skin cancer. RESULTS. For medium size defects of up to 1 cm in diameter, rotation flaps offer an alternative surgical one-stage method of reconstruction of the nasal tip iir selected cases. CONCLUSION. Satisfactory results can often be achieved with a modest amount of planning, intra-, and postoperative care. Rotation flaps possess a circular configuration that allow recapitulation of the natural creases and contours of nasal tip anatomy resulting in aesthetic repairs. (C) 1997 by the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, Inc.