Abstract:

Objective　To understand anatomic features of the blood supply of peroneus brevis muscle, and explore the viability of the peroneus brevis muscle flap or pedicled peroneus brevis muscle flap transfer within soft tissue for repairing ankle soft tissue defeats or the tibial nonunion. Methods　Thirty fixed adult lower limb specimens were perfused with red emulsion. The vessel origin, course and distribution of the peroneus brevis muscle were dissected and observed. For 10 cases, arcuate arteries of peroneal artery were taken as a pedicle to repair soft tissue defects in ankle and tibia bone nonunion.  Results　The vessels of peroneus brevis showed a segmental distribution, mainly from the arcuate arteries of peroneal artery, and the average distance of the most distal branch to lateral malleolus was about (50.81±5.45)mm. According to anatomic features of peroneus brevis muscles and its blood supply, peroneus brevis muscle flap was designed and used to treat 10 patients successfully.  Conclusions　The blood supply of peroneus brevis muscle was rich and stable, which can be taken as the ideal muscle flap to repair ankle soft tissue defects and tibial nonunion.