The temporal fossa in head and neck reconstruction: twenty-two flaps of scalp, fascia, and full-thickness cranial bone.

We reviewed 22 consecutive flaps based on the blood supply of the temporal fossa. Our purpose was to demonstrate reliability of the vascular supply and to illustrate the versatility of these tissues for reconstruction of specialized structures, including eyelids, eyebrow, ear, lips, oral lining, orbit, and mandible. For these complex problems, all but one patient required multiple-stage surgery to obtain their final aesthetic and functional results. All flaps proved reliable and versatile. Their advantages include proximity to the reconstructive site, ease of bilateral reconstructions, and well-camouflaged donor deficit. In particular, the ability to transfer vascularized full-thickness cranial bone for total or bilateral mandibular reconstructions presents an additional possibility for this difficult problem. We conclude that the reconstructive potential of these flaps is limited only by the surgeon's ingenuity.