OBJECTIVETo study the anatomy basis for the clinical application of the adjacent horn shaped perforator fasciocutaneous flap for the reconstruction of small and medium-sized defects in the trunk area.

METHODS(1) Ten adult antiseptic cadavers (20 sides) were perfused with red latex. The skin blood supply, line of the blood vessels, branches in accordance with the distribution and crossing were observed. (2) Fifteen cases with defects in the trunk were treated with the adjacent horn shaped perforator fasciocutaneous flaps. The defects size ranged from 5 cm x 5 cm to 13 cm x 13 cm with the size of the flaps ranging from 10 cm x 6 cm to 35 cm x 15 cm.

RESULTSThe trunk skin is supplied by mainly 17 groups arteries such as thyrocervical trunk, internal thoracic artery, posterior intercostal arteries, superior epigastric artery, arteria epigastrica inferior, lumbar arteries, and so on. The perforators (diameter > 0.5 mm) numbers are about 20, 40, 24, 6, on the chest, abdomen and perineum, upper back, waist, respectively. All the flaps survived completely with primary healing both on donor and recipient sites. The flaps color, texture, function and appearance were satisfactory during the follow-up period of 1-24 months.

CONCLUSIONSThe adjacent horn shaped perforator fasciocutaneous flap should be designed flexibly. The defects in the donor sites could be closed directly without skin graft. It is an effective, easy and ideal method for the reconstruction of large defects in the trunk.