The Mercedes flap: A modified closure for circular skin defects around the eyebrow

摘要

Circular skin defects are common after excision. Traditional closure requires removal of some healthy skin to make a fusiform elliptical defect and then close the defect directly. This closure may distort the tissue around the eyebrow, making the eyebrows asymmetrical.1 Furthermore, although a purse-string suture can be used to provide closure for a circular skin defect around the eyebrows, this method will pull all the skin around the defect to the centre, producing puckering and buckling of the skin. An alternative method of closure for circular skin defects around the eyebrow is the Mercedes flap, which involves excision of less of the healthy tissue and requires less tissue to be pulled to the centre of the defect, making the scar less visible. We report a series of patients treated with this technique.