Anatomical study on arteries of fasciae in the forearm fasciocutaneous flap

The arteries of the forearm flap were studied systematically and quantitati vely to determine the survival mechanism of fasciocutaneous flaps and provi de morphological basis for clinical application. Fourteen forearms from fre sh adult cadavers were investigated by methods of dissection under operatin g and biological microscopes, tissue clearing, tissue sectioning, and image analysis. There were four arterial types in the forearm flaps in which the intermuscular space cutaneous artery was predominant in number. Both inter muscular space cutaneous arteries and intermuscular septal cutaneous arteri es anastomosed by branches as arterial chains along the intermuscular space s and septa where the stem arteries ran through. Arteries of each type gave off epi- and subfascial branches to the deep fascia, and the former were g reater in number and larger in diameter. In the same way, the vascular netw ork was thicker in the epifascial level than that in the subfascial level. The percentage of the area of blood vessels in deep fascia (Aa%) was larger than that of the superficial fascia. In the forearm, the deep fascial vasc ulature is the main pathway through which the fasciocutaneous flap gains it s blood supply, and the epifascial vascular network is especially important . It would be better to select the fascial pedicle where the arterial chain exists. Clin. Anat. 13:1-5, 2000. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.