Anatomical Study of the Descending Branch of the Lateral Femoral Circumflex Artery and Veins in Vascular Grafting in Japanese Cadavers

BACKGROUND: In microsurgery development, autologous vein grafting is necessary when there are no suitable blood vessels for anastomosis around the flap recipient site or when the vascular pedicle of the flap is short. The descending branches of the lateral femoral circumflex artery (LFCA) and vein have been used as a vascular bundle instead of vein grafts, but to our knowledge, there have been no reports on the relationship between thigh length and vessel length. In this study, we performed a macroscopic examination of the LFCA descending branch length required for grafting. METHODS: The length of the LFCA descending branches and veins as well as thigh length were measured in 16 preserved cadaveric legs. RESULTS: The average length of the thigh was 42.6 cm. It was possible to harvest a mean length of 14.2 cm of the descending branches of the lateral femoral circumflex vessels. Descending branches of the LFCA and veins were identified in all cases. It was estimated that the length of the LFCA descending branch and veins could be collected in 20% of the thigh length in 98% of cases. CONCLUSION: When preparing a preoperative plan, it is important to thoroughly consider the required length of blood vessels for grafting and whether it is possible to harvest vessels with sufficient length.