ABSTRACT
The blood vessels and nerves of the sole skin of 50 feet of Chinese adult cadavers were observed with an operative microscope. The blood supply of the central part of the sole comes mainly from the medial and lateral plantar ar teries (MPA and LPA). Their average diameter is larger than 2.0mm and their trunk is usually longer than 80mm. When a skin flap is designed, the cutaneous branches from LPA are much better than those from MPA so far as the number of the branches, their external diameter and the extent of the distribution are considered.When the sole skin is stripped away, the cut ends of the cutaneous arteries present a multiple dot-like appearance on the surface of the superficial fascia. The external diameter of the arterial branches, the number of the branches in an unit area, and the total area of the cross section of the branches are different among the regions of the heel and the metatarsal heads, and the central part of the sole. They vary with the weight born on each region.All the cutaneous arteries of the sole are accompanied with veins respectively. Most of the MPA and LPA are accompanied with two veins with a diameter larger than 1.9mm on average. The two veins terminate by joining into two posterior tibial veins.