NEO-FALLOPLASTICA NELLA SINDROME TRANSESSUALE: ALTERNATIVE AL LEMBO LIBERO ANTIBRACHIALE

In 1989 the Authors developed an original technique for construction of a neo-penis in female-to-male transsexual patients. An inferiorly based rectus abdominis muscular flap was tunnelized to the pubic area and covered with a forearm free flap. Incorporation of the muscular belly in the neo-penis achieves a good stiffness, thus eliminating the necessity of autologous or alloplastic implants, while the microvascular flap allows ideal aesthetic result. In some cases, however, the microsurgical procedure can be not possible. As an alternative for these cases we recently carried out a previous expansion of the labia maiora. This procedure allowed us to obtain skin flaps of adequate length and viability that were used for resurfacing the rectus. The procedure is described in detail and the results of our first two cases are critically evaluated.