title: [Applied anatomy of the medial superior genicular artery and the retrograde island flap].
abstract: Through anatomical dissection of fifty freshly amputated adult lower extremities, the origin, length, diameter and extent of perfusion of the superior genicular artery and its relation with the anterior tibial recurrent artery were investigated. Results revealed that the medial superior genicular artery originated primarily from the femoral artery (95.5%). It descends between the sartorius and majormedial muscles and then separates into branches that nourish the upper one-third of the lower leg and the medial skin of the knee, and then, by anastomosis, joins the anterior tibia recurrent artery on the level of the medial malleolus of the tibia. The formation rate of the anastomotic arch is 100% with the average outer diameter of 1.3 +/- 0.39 mm (x +/- s). Based on these observations, we conclude that the medial area of the knee is the best donor site of an island flap, which can be used to repair the medial superior one-third of the lower leg and the region around the knee.
authors.affiliation: Orthopedic Department of Yanbian Medical College, Jilin.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xuan
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001158:Arteries / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D007717:Knee / Q000098:blood supply*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D016909:Tibial Arteries / Q000033:anatomy & histology*