Vasculature of the peroneal artery: an anatomic study focused on the perforator vessels

Abstract

Based on the dissection of 20 fresh cadaver legs, the authors have further defined the vascular anatomy of the peroneal artery and its cutaneous perforator vessels. They identified a total of 95 cutaneous perforators of the peroneal artery greater then 0.3 mm in 20 legs. The average number of cutaneous perforators was 4.8 (range: three to seven) per leg. The cutaneous perforators were either musculocutaneous (34 percent) or septocutaneous (66 percent). The musculocutaneous perforators were found predominantly in the upper two-thirds of the lower leg; the septocutaneous perforators were located in the lower two-thirds of the leg. The external diameter of the cutaneous perforators at the posterior border of the fibula was 0.6 (range: 0.3 to 1.5) mm. The blood supply of the proximal fibula epiphysis and fibula head was found not to be in the vascular territory of the peroneal artery. These results are the basis of the established osteoseptocutaneous fibula transfer, the peroneal fasciocutaneous free flap, and the double-paddle peroneal tissue transfer that all require dissection of highly vascularized tissue adjacent to the fibula, in order to reach the peroneal vessels. These constant anatomic findings should encourage the surgeon to harvest skin flaps just to the level of the posterior border of the fibula, thereby creating perforator flaps based on the peroneal system.