title: [Vascular supply of intrinsic muscles of foot and anatomic basis for muscular flaps design].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the vascular supply of intrinsic muscles of foot and anatomic basis for muscular flap design.
  
  
  METHODS
  A radiopaque injectate (lead oxide-gelatin mixtures, 26 ml/kg) was injected into 10 fresh cadavers. The dissected regions were photographed and each intrinsic muscles on the foot was removed and radiographed. The number, type, diameter of vascular branches of muscles and their distributions were observed. The area of the vascular territory supplied by each source vessel was calculated using Scion Image for Windows software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were significant architectural differences among the intrinsic muscles. The muscles length varied from 22.5mm to 116.2mm [average, (66.1 +/- 23.2)mm]. The measured fiber length were relatively consistent, ranging from 14.2 mm to 27.5 mm [average, (20.2 +/- 4.5)mm]. There are 63 vascular branches into the 23 foot muscles, each muscle having average branches of 3.2 +/- 0.8. The average diameter of branches, the length and width of each vascular territorial area is (0.8 +/- 0.3) mm, (2.2 +/- 0.8) cm, and (0.9 +/- 0.4) cm, respectively. Other findings included that some muscles were not present in some cadavers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The blood supply of intrinsic muscles of foot is abundant with different diameter and distributions of branches. There is an anatomic basis for muscular or musculoosseous flap design. There are 7 intrinsic muscles with large and reliable vascular supply which can be chosen as muscular flaps.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mei
authors.forename: Huairui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.forename: Maolin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Shi Xin
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Wenyue
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005528:Foot / Q000098:blood supply*; D006801:Humans; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000098:blood supply*; D013524:Surgical Flaps