Skin Flaps

To improve the reader's understanding of flap classification, the author has summarized the most commonly used classifications into 3 simplified categories: type of blood supply, type of tissue to be transferred, and location of donor site.
Blood supply:
The classification of flaps based on blood supply, including the Mathes and Nahai subclassification, can be summarized as follows:

• Random (no named blood vessel)
• Axial (named blood vessel) Mathes and Nahai classification
  • One vascular pedicle (eg, tensor fascia lata)
  • Dominant pedicle(s) and minor pedicle(s) (eg, gracilis)
  • Two dominant pedicles (eg, gluteus maximus)
  • Segmental vascular pedicles (eg, sartorius)
  • One dominant pedicle and secondary segmental pedicles (eg, latissimus dorsi)