Anatomy of vastus lateralis muscle flap.

A vastus lateralis muscle flap is used as a pedicled and free flap. In this study, the vastus lateralis muscles of 15 adult formalin-fixed cadavers (30 cases) were dissected. The dominant pedicle was found to be descending branch of the lateral circumflex femoral artery. The mean diameter of the artery was found to be 2.1 mm. This pedicle was located 119.4 mm distal to the pubic symphysis. The mean length of the major pedicle was found to be 56.8 mm when the dominant pedicle was chosen to nourish the flap. The dominant pedicle entered the muscle 155.8 and 213.7 mm from the greater trochanter and the anterior superior iliac spine, respectively. The muscle had proximal minor pedicles from the ascending and transverse branches of lateral circumflex femoral artery. These arteries had mean diameters of 1.8 and 2.0 mm, respectively. The distal minor branches were present in all of the dissections. The distal branch had a mean diameter of 1.8 mm. The origin of this distal branch was located 83.7 mm proximal to the intercondylar line. The motor nerve of the vastus lateralis was found to be originating from femoral nerve. The nerve entered the muscle 194.6 mm from the anterior superior iliac spine.