A recent advance in microvascular surgery has made the direct transfer of free skin flaps clinically possible and the free skin flaps tranfer has proved to be an alternative to multistaged pedicle flaps.
As this is a new method, there are many problems that have to be solved so that it can be put into widespread use. One of the difficult problems in the free-flap surgery is the availability of donor flaps and accurate knowledge of their detailed vascular anatomy.
Since McGregor and Jackson (1972) described the groin flap, this flap seems to be one of the ideal donor sites of free skin flaps. But there is no accurate .data of the vascular patterns of groin flap in Korean literature.
I have examined 40 dissections of this area and presented their detailed ana tomical vascular patterns, using 20 Korean cadavers.
The following results are obtained:
1. Anatomical variations in origin of sugerficial circumflex iliac artery and superficial inferior epigastric artery, as they arise from the femoral artery or another parent artery are.
1) a common origin for both arteries (18/40).
2) seperate origins of the Two arteries (15/40).
3) an absent superficial inferior enigastric artery with a compensatory
superficial circumflex iliac artery (5/40).
4) in two of tho 40 dissections, the two arteries arise from deep circumflexiliac artery other than the femoral artery.
2. Dominant artery in its diameter;
1) the superficial circumflex iliac artery is equal to superficial inferior epigastric artery in 15 of the 40 dissections.
2) superficial circumflex iliac artery is dominant to superficial inferior epigastric artery in 5 of the 40 dissections.
3) superficial inferior epigastric artery is dominant to superficial circumflex iliac artery in only one of the 40 dissections.
4) In 19 dissections, they have common trunk origin.
The average external diameter of the dominant artery at the origin from the femoral artery:
1) about 1 to 2 mm in common origin.
2) about 0. 7 to 1. 5mm in seperate origin.
4. In 35 of the 40 dissections, the superficial circumflex iliac vein and superficial inferior epigastric vein joins to form superficial axial vein and drains to saphenous bulb. In 5 of the 40 dissections the superficial circumflex iliac vein and superficial inferior epigastric vein drains to saphenous bulb seperately.
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