The vascular supply to the lateral compartment of the leg with emphasis on fibular flap harvesting.

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine the exact locations of vascular pedicles that supply the fibularis longus and brevis, to identify the morphometric features of those vessels in the lateral compartment of the leg, and to indicate the branching points of the pedicles from the main arteries.

Methods: The popliteal arteries of 40 lower limbs from 20 adult cadavers (12 males, 8 females) were bilaterally injected with colored latex. After dissection, the branches of the arteries were identified and counted. The distances between the apex of the head of the fibula and the branching points of the anterior tibial, fibular, and posterior tibial arteries supplying the fibularis longus and brevis muscles were measured.

Results: In all cases, a single artery coursing in the lateral compartment of the leg was identified; it was a branch of the anterior tibial artery and it supplied the proximal and middle thirds of the fibular muscles anteriorly. The mean distance between the origin of this artery and the apex of the fibular head was 8.65 cm. Its mean length was 10.9 cm and the mean number of its branches was 5.1. In all specimens, the fibular artery supplied the proximal and distal portions of the fibular muscles posteriorly.

Conclusions: This study provides a detailed description of the morphometric properties and branching patterns of the axial pedicle of the anterior tibial artery, which runs longitudinally in the lateral compartment and supplies the fibularis longus and fibularis brevis muscles. We propose naming the pedicle of anterior tibial artery the lateral fibular artery. If this nomenclature is accepted, the fibular artery could be renamed the "posterior fibular artery".