The width of the gracilis muscle was measured before and after removal
of the epimysium in 10 fresh cadavers, The average extent of muscle w
idening achieved by epimysium removal was over 100% (mean 112.6%; stan
dard deviation 11.9%), This extended muscle flap enabled us to cover s
uccessfully even large soft tissue defects measuring up to 300 cm(2).
In 27 consecutive patients, soft tissue defects of the lower leg with
exposed bone have been repaired by free tissue transfer of a gracilis
muscle flap, covered with split skin grafts, The advantages of the gra
cilis muscle flap were the low donor site morbidity with almost no rec
ognisable functional loss, the easy surgical access, the thin and flat
shape of the muscle, and its adequate size after excision of the epim
ysium, Reconstruction with a gracilis muscle flap resulted in an incon
spicuous, stable, and flat contour of the lower leg, The entire length
of the vascular pedicle of the gracilis muscle was easily harvested i
n our patients by routinely dissecting the pedicle on both sides of th
e adductor longus muscle.