Study on anatomical basis of skin flaps based on the blood supply of the rectus abdominis muscle

The investigation was performed in 20 cadavers (dissection in 17 formaldehyde preserved and dye injection in 3 fresh ones). The results of study showed that: average, each rectus abdominal muscle has 4.97 vessel with 0.5-0.6 mm in diameter arising from the anterior gone up through the sheath of abdominal muscle. Among them, 4.56 arising from the deep inferior epigastric artery (DIEA) and they concentrate mainly in the paraumbilical area (87.7%). The cutaneous blood supply (dye coloured area) of the DIEA was 19.5 x 14 cm in the supra and infra umbilical regions. The DIEA and the vein form a suitable pedicle for free tissue transfer. The design of different skin flaps patterns was proposed by results.