Reading man flap in four dogs: a case series

BACKGROUND: The reading man flap is a novel technique in human medicine for the closure of cutaneous circular defects. To the best of our knowledge, no recent clinical studies have described this procedure in small animals. CASE PRESENTATION: In this case series, we present four dogs in which neoplasms were reconstructed using the reading man procedure, which is a double-advancement transposition subdermal flap. The reading man flap was applied in wound revision after surgical removal of a neoplasm in two dogs and in the closure following the excision of a neoplasm in another two dogs. Successful tension-free closure of the lesion site was achieved in all four patients. The postoperative period was uneventful in all patients, and there was no flap necrosis or surgical site infection, although surgical site infection preceded in two cases. Minor complications included partial suture dehiscence in one dog and seroma formation in two dogs. Only one dog required a second anesthesia to insert an active drainage system. The follow-up examination of all four dogs revealed no further complications with the reading man flap at time of the latest wound reevaluation conducted by the surgeon. CONCLUSION: The reading man flap is a well-vascularized fasciocutaneous flap that provides tension-free closure owing to its asymmetrical Z-plasty. It is a simple-to-use option for the closure of circular skin lesions in dogs.