Preliminary study on anatomy and clinical significance of the superficial region of lateral femoral muscle / 中华显微外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the feasibility in reconstruction of the muscular power with the superficial part of lateral femoral muscle through anatomical study on the superficial region of lateral femoral muscle.Methods:Studies on 4 sides of lower limbs of 2 cadaver specimen were conducted in the Department of Hand and Foot Microsurgery of Xi'an Fengcheng Hospital. Intraoperative observations and measurements were further carried out on 21 sides of 21 patients. Muscular fascia in superficial region, muscular gross morphology, thickness, length and width of muscles, length of muscle fibres and pinnate angles of muscle surface were observed and measured. Both blood vessels and nerves in the muscle were separated to measured.Results:The superficial region of lateral femoral muscle was in a shape of fusiform and started from the greater trochanter and ended at the patella and rectus femoris, with the fascia at proximal end and the muscle of distal end. The inferior muscle fibres of the fascia were arranged in sequence and ended at the deep fascia from proximal to distal. Mean muscle thickness was measured at 1.96 cm±0.48 cm, and mean pinnate angle was of 18.9°±3.3°. The superficial region was found being distributed by the descending branches of lateral circumflex femoral artery(LCFA) and the second branch of femoral nerve, and they accompanied each other. At 5.0 cm from the point of entry to the muscle, the diameter of the vessels was measured at 2.39 mm±0.52 mm, and the diameter of nerves was at 2.64 mm±0.61 mm. Both of arteries and nerves further branched out anteriorly and posteriorly in 1.0-1.5 cm intervals after having entered the muscle. At 0 - 2.5 cm away from the muscle entry point, a larger branch was often running posteriorly into the muscle, and this branch appears on all 4-sided specimens. While the occurrence rate in the 21 sides of patients observed in operations was of 90.5%, with a transverse diameter at 1.23 mm±0.28 mm.Conclusion:The superficial region of lateral femoral muscle is dominated by independent vessels and nerves and there are many branches from superior vessels and nerves, which form an anatomical basis for one or more muscular flaps.