Overlapping double platysma flaps for the correction of post-tracheostomy scars

Abstract

Many surgical procedures have been described for the correction of the depressed, fixed post-tracheostomy scar, which produces a "tracheal tug" during swallowing. The purpose of this article is to review the common techniques and to present a new and simple surgical procedure for the correction of this deformity. During this procedure, the retracted scar is released from the trachea, left superior and right inferior based platysma muscle flaps are sutured in an overlapping fashion to provide thick and adequate soft tissue coverage over the tracheostomy site. This paper includes the presentation of two patients with a follow up of 6 and 12 months respectively, in which the tracheal tug and depressed scar were eliminated in a satisfactory manner. © Springer-Verlag 2004.