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A 67-year-old man with squamous cell carcinoma underwent reconstruction with a free anterolateral thigh myocutaneous flap. Unroofing the skin perforators found that the skin perforators originated from the oblique branch of the lateral circumflex femoral artery with no connections with the descending branch. Thus, the flap was harvested based on the oblique branch, leaving the descending branch in situ. Reconstruction was completed uneventfully and he had an excellent outcome at 1-year follow-up. The anterolateral thigh myocutaneous flap was reputed to be a technically easy flap to harvest. The perforators supplying the skin were visualized and a block of muscle incorporating the perforators harvested with the descending branch of the lateral circumflex femoral artery as the pedicle of the flap. However, not infrequently with this approach, the flap thus harvested has a well-perfused muscle component, whereas the skin component was not viable. This situation is explained anatomically by the potential occurrence of an alternative pedicle that supplies the anterolateral thigh flap, called the oblique branch of the lateral circumflex femoral artery. Our case presented here was a "classic" intraoperative finding of this potential trap and the importance of defining the anatomy before committing oneself to the harvest by unroofing all the skin perforators was emphasized.

The anterolateral thigh (ALT) flap is a versatile soft tissue flap. It can be harvested as a fasciocutaneous or myocutaneous flap. Vascularized fascia can be included or the pedicle may be harvested as a flow-through flap. The flap can also be harvested incorporating multiple skin islands or as a chimeric flap incorporating separate skin and muscle components. When a large flap is needed, the entire lateral thigh can be harvested by combining the ALT with either the tensor fascia lata or the anteromedial thigh flap as a conjoined flap. Morbidity is remarkably minimal despite the availability of such generous amounts of tissue. The purported difficulty with the use of this flap is because of the anatomical variations that may render this flap unreliable. This paper clarifies the vascular anatomy of the flap and elaborates an approach to flap harvest that can be used to reliably harvest the flap in spite of the anomalies that may be encountered.