Neurocutaneous Flaps On Dorsum Of Foot: Anatomic Study And Their Primary Clinical Applications

Objective To provide anatomic basis for designing the neurocutaneous flap on dorsum of foot and report the clinical result.Methods On 32 adult cadaver lower limb specimens perfused with red latex , the origins, diameters, courses, branches and distributions of the cutaneous nerves on dorsum of foot (including the medial, intermediate, lateral dorsal cutaneous nerve of foot and the terminal branch of the deep peroneal nerve) and their nutrient vessels were observed. On this anatomic basis, 7 flaps were used to repair soft tissue defect in forefoot.Results①The medial dorsal cutaneous nerve of foot was arisen from the superficial peroneal nerve. Crossing the intermalleolar line, it was located ( 0.7 ± 4.3) mm medial to the midpoint of the line with a diameter of (2.59 ±0.54) mm. The nerve stem divided into 1 to 3 branches (3.0±1.5) cm distal to the line. On average, 6.9 perforators per specimen were identified. At least 3 nutrient vessels were always found in each of the studied specimens. They perforated the deep fascia (4.1 ± 0.5 ) cm proximal to the intermalleolar, (1.4 ±0.2) cm proximal to the medial of the first metatarsophalangeal joints and (1.5 ± 0.3) cm proximal to the tip of the great toe webspace, respectively. The external diameter of them was (0.81±0.13) mm, (0.48 ±0.08) mm and (0.46 ±0.08) mm, respectively.②The intermediate dorsal cutaneous nerve of foot were arisen from the...