1997 Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 171-175
The use of free flap transfer has recently gained increasing popularity in reconstructive surgery to the head and neck regions. However, there are few clinicoanatomical studies of the neck. Morphometric investigation of the vessels in the neck region were carried out on 21 cadavers from the dissection room in order to gain more knowledge of the anatomy for microvascular surgery. Our results briefly :
1.The largest diameter (1.7 mm) was measured in the facial artery except for the external carotid artery.
2.The largest diameter (3.6 mm) was measured in the external jugular vein except for the internal jugular vein.
3.The longest arterial section (5.9 cm) was measured in the superficial cervical artery.
4.There were no significant differences between the diameter and length of the vessels on the right and left sides in the cervical and facial regions.
From these results, it was found that some of the clinicoanatomical considerations of vessels in the neck region which will form the clinicoanatomical basis for free flap transfer should be clarified.
