Distribution of the Superficial Veins in Cubital Fossa in Chinese Adults

Abstract

Superficial venous system in cubital fossa is important in plastic surgery and commonly used when harvesting the free forearm flap or used as cephalic vein pedicle flap. Ethnological variation may affect surgical procedure. In this study, A total of 51 cadavers with 102 superficial vein systems of upper limb were examined in five consecutive years from 1987-1991. The dissection to clarify the variant distributions of the cephalic vein in forearm, antecubital fossa and arm. Four types were classified. The most common type, Type Ⅲ, accounts for 40.2%. Type Ⅰ&Ⅱ accounts for 22.5%, 27.5% respective1y The unusual variation, type Ⅳ account for 9.8% cannot be neglected and the incidence of the same type in one individual was 37.5%. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that the superficial vein of cubital fossa in the Chinese adult differed from that of the Caucasian and Indian. It has provided a detailed anatomical distribution analysis in Chinese adult, which should benefit the clinician in dealing with operation procedures related with the superficial vein in cubital fossa.