title: The free or pedicled saphenous flap.
abstract: The saphenous flap described by Acland is a septocutaneous artery flap based on the saphenous vessels and great saphenous vein. The use of this flap in 2 patients who required soft tissue coverage is reported herein. The saphenous flap has the advantages of thin and pliable skin, a long and large pedicle, and the technical possibility of combination with the sartorius muscle, sensory nerve, and the femur or tibia. Donor defects are usually closed directly and cause no functional limitations. This flap is useful for the coverage of thin defects that require mobility, especially in the extremities or the intraoral region. It also could be used for the reconstruction of various types of organ losses (e.g., as a motor providing musculocutaneous flap, an osteocutaneous flap involving the femur or the tibia, and/or a vascularized nerve graft).
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Clinical Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Koshima
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Endou
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Soeda
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamasaki
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000601:surgery; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000601:surgery; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007083:Iliac Artery / Q000601:surgery; D007601:Jugular Veins / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D012501:Saphenous Vein / Q000601:surgery* / Q000637:transplantation; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D014060:Tongue Diseases / Q000601:surgery