Study details outcomes for omocervical axial pattern flaps

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A new retrospective case series in the Journal of Small Animal Practice reports outcomes for omocervical axial pattern flaps in six clinical patients, four dogs and two cats, treated between 2016 and 2024. The flap was used after mass removal, scar revision, chronic inflammation, and trauma. All six patients had postoperative complications, but most were classified as minor and were managed conservatively; one case developed flap necrosis that required revision surgery. The authors conclude that the omocervical flap can still be an effective option for reconstructing defects in the orofacial, cervical, shoulder, and axillary regions. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the report adds a small but clinically useful update on a flap that has long been part of the reconstructive toolkit, dating back to foundational canine descriptions in the early 1980s. The message is practical rather than dramatic: omocervical axial pattern flaps remain viable for difficult regional defects, but surgeons should expect a meaningful complication burden and plan case selection, client communication, and postoperative monitoring accordingly. That general theme also fits with other feline axial pattern flap data: in a retrospective series of 14 cats undergoing lateral caudal axial pattern flaps for caudodorsal trunk defects, postoperative complications occurred in 50%, but most cats had either uncomplicated healing or only minor complications, supporting the broader point that axial pattern flaps can still be reliable despite frequent postoperative management needs. Recent work using near-infrared fluorescence angiography in canine axial pattern flaps also suggests imaging may help refine flap planning, although visibility and agreement for omocervical flaps were less robust than for some other flap types. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

What to watch: Watch for larger multicenter series, and for whether perfusion-imaging tools such as indocyanine green angiography become more widely studied in omocervical flap planning. Comparative reporting across flap types and species, including feline data, would also help clarify how often “high complication rate” still translates into acceptable clinical success. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)