Applied anatomy of cranial bone flap pedicled with superficial temporal artery to repair facial defects

Objective: To provide anatomical basis for the cranial bone flap pedicled with superficial temporal artery to repair facial defects.Methods: The courses, branches and distributions of the superficial temporal arteries were observed and measured on 30 adult cadavers perfused with red relax and 8 cast cephalocervical specimen.Imitate operation was performed on specimen.Results: The superficail temporal artery originated from external carotid artery, passed through the root of aygoma superficially to the strata subsutaneous in front of external acoustic porus, went anteroposteriorly between the subcutaneous tissue and superficial temporal fasica, and sent out parietal branch and frontal branch at the upside of zygoma.Those branches supplied about three fourth parietal soft tissue, periosteum and external lamina of cranial bone.The superficial temporal artery, frontal branch and parietal branch were all larger than 1mm and could be separated out more than 8 cm. Conclusion: It was feasible to design a bone flap of cranial external lamina pedicled with superficial temporal artery to repair the facial defects.