The osteocutaneous free fibula flap: is the skin paddle reliable?

This clinical and anatomic study was undertaken to see if the skin paddle of the osteocutaneous fibula flap could be made more reliable. Eighty cadaver limbs were dissected to evaluate the type, number, and location of the cutaneous perforators supplying the lateral leg. Three types of perforators were identified: septocutaneous, musculocutaneous, and a type we termed septomuscular, which does not actually run within the muscle substance but is adherent to the muscle. Although not a true musculocutaneous perforator, it should be treated as such clinically. Musculocutaneous perforators were found to be more numerous and more proximal than the septocutaneous perforators. Eighteen clinical cases demonstrate a 33 percent skin paddle survival when dissected as a septocutaneous flap and a 93 percent skin paddle survival when dissected as a septomusculocutaneous flap. In using the osteocutaneous fibula flap, it is recommended that a cuff of soleus and flexor hallucis longus be incorporated into the flap to help ensure flap viability.