Lateral nasal artery pedicled island flap for repair of nasal alar defects

The lateral nasal artery pedicled island flap for the reconstruction of moderately sized alar defects is described. By avoiding distortion of lower nasal landmarks through subperichondrial and subperiosteal dissection over the lateral nasal wall and dorsum, we were able to achieve satisfactory results with excellent color, texture, and symmetry matches in three patients over a 2-year period at an academic surgical center.