Introduction:

Knowledge of the vascular anatomy of skeletal muscles is of great importance to the reconstructive surgeon. Mathes and Nahai originally presented their classification in 1981 based on the pattern of vascular supply to individual muscles, and today this classification is very popular.

The objective of this study was to review the pattern of vascular supply to of skeletal muscles of the human body in a series of 40 cadavers.

 Methods:

The lead oxide, gelatin and water arterial injection technique was utilized in a series of 40 cadavers. A total of 2339 muscles were individually dissected, and two dimensional angiograms were obtained. The angiograms were scanned, and the vascular supply to each muscle was classified according to the five groups described by Mathes and Nahai. The variability of muscle vascular supply was assessed.

Results:

A total of 72% of all muscles studies could be classified according to the Mathes and Nahai classification. We found that many muscles had variable patterns of vascular supply (28%), and a significant number of muscles exhibited a pattern of vascular supply which did not fit the Mathes and Nahai’s classification.

Conclusion:

This study demonstrates the excellent quality of angiograms produced by the lead oxide injection technique. As well, we observed significant vascular variability in skeletal muscle which can produce variable clinical results.