Vol 71, No 1 (2012)
Original article
Published online: 2012-04-19
The arterial anatomy of the saphenous flap: a cadaveric study
Folia Morphol 2012;71(1):10-14.
Abstract
The saphenous flap is a fasciocutaneous flap generally used for knee and upper
third of the leg coverage. Due to various descriptions of the saphenous
flap, such as venous, sensory, and free flap, the origin and distributing characteristics of the saphenous artery are important for plastic surgeons. The aim of this cadaveric study was to evaluate the anatomical features of the saphenous flap. The pedicles of the saphenous flap were dissected under 4 x loop magnification in thirty-two legs of 16 formalin-fixed adult cadavers. The findings of this anatomic study were as follows: Descending genicular artery originated from the femoral artery in all of the cases. The first musculoarticular branch, which arose from descending genicular, to the vastus medialis muscle existed
in all dissections. The second branch was the saphenous artery which seperately originated from the descending genicular artery in all of the cases. At the level of origin the mean diameter of the saphenous artery was found to be 1.61 mm. The muscular branches to the anterior or posterior sides of the sartorious muscle existed in all of the dissections. Two vena comitantes and a saphenous nerve were accompanying the saphenous artery in all cadavers. The mean distance between the origin of the artery and interepicondylar line of tibia was
115 mm. The muscular branches of the saphenous artery to the gracilis muscle
were encountered 6.66% of the cases. The cutaneous branches numbered between one and four, and arose 3.5 to 9.5 cm from the site of origin of the
saphenous artery. The distal end of the saphenous artery reached approximately
122 mm distally to the knee joint in all cases. Due to variations of the
arterial anatomy and limited number of anatomic studies of the saphenous
flap, we studied the topography and anatomy of the saphenous artery for
increasing reliability of the saphenous flap.
Keywords: saphenous arteryanatomyflapreconstruction
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