The authors' combined study showed varying perfusion characteristics between anatomical and clinical settings, which could be caused by a number of complex systemic and local processes. Thus, the selection of the DIEP zones should be assessed individually depending on the anatomy in question and the characteristics of the perforators until the mentioned issues are clarified in detail.

We believe that the presence of the muscle portion in the LDM flap may offer better conditions for thermoregulation based on the improvement of neural and vascular regeneration. However, further studies should clarify the pathophysiological backgrounds, to make these interesting results clinically applicable.

No abstract