OBJECTIVES: The authors present the results of dissecting the vascular bundle of the medial gastrocnemius muscle (MGM) and its perforating arteries with the purpose of giving their contribution to anatomical studies. METHODS: 13 pieces of knee and leg (eight right and five left) of 13 fresh adult cadavers (eight male and five female) to evaluate the distribution, path, number and length of irrigation of the MGM and its perforating arteries. RESULTS: They observed that the medial sural artery (ASM) is divided into two main intramuscular branches (medial and lateral), and in 90% of the cases, the perforating arteries come from the lateral branch. In 38.5% of the cases, they identified one perforating artery, and two perforating arteries were seen in 46.1% of the cases. All of the perforating arteries were at a distance of 14.0 cm from the popliteal fold and between 16.5 cm and 34.0 cm from the medial malleolus. CONCLUSION: MGM irrigation by ASM and its perforating arteries is adequate for the use of the muscle as a myocutaneous flap of in the lower limb.
Muscle; skeletal; Muscle; skeletal; Dissection; Cadaver; Surgical flaps
