With the introduction of the concept of “abdominal core health”, various kinds of complex abdominal wall hernias require individualized functional abdominal wall reconstruction using different surgical techniques. Precise abdominal wall reconstruction requires a deep understanding of the blood vessels, nerves, and biomechanics of the abdominal wall fascia. The external oblique muscle flap is a novel type of abdominal wall reconstruction technique, which is preformed near the defect, preserves relatively complete muscle flap nerve innervation and vascular supply, and is suitable for special types (such as absence of rectus abdominis complex), special sites (large or giant semilunar line incisional hernia), specific conditions (lateral ventral hernia with loss of domain, traumatic ventral hernia with contamination) of functional reconstruction of abdominal wall defects. This technique requires no vascular or nerve anastomosis, features convenient operation, is easy to master, and possesses good clinical applicability