Prevalence of accessory branches and other anatomical variations in the radial artery encountered during radial forearm flap harvest: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-24-2020

Publication Title

Journal of Reconstructive Microsurgery

Abstract

Background Harvest of the radial forearm flap (RFF) for reconstructive surgery is proceeded by the Allen test to assess for adequate contralateral perfusion of the hand, yet the Allen test may fail to detect anatomical variations in the radial artery such as aberrant branching. Therefore, the goal of this study was to systematically review the literature regarding anatomical abnormalities of the radial artery that can affect flap harvest and to perform a meta-analysis to estimate the prevalence of such abnormalities. Methods A systematic review of the literature was conducted using five online databases to identify all instances of radial artery anatomical variations. Abstracts were reviewed and categorized into either (1) large cohort studies of anatomical variations identified by angiogram or (2) case reports specifically mentioning anomalous or accessory branches of the radial artery. Data from the large cohort studies were included in a random effect meta-analysis to estimate the prevalence of such variations. Results Eighteen angiogram cohort studies containing a total of 18,115 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Accessory branches were the least common anatomical variant reported, with an estimated average prevalence of 0.5%. Prevalence estimates for more common anatomical variants, including radial artery loops (0.9%), stenosis (1.3%), hypoplasia (1.9%), tortuosity (4.3%), and abnormal origin (5.6%), were also calculated. Thirteen case reports detailing anomalous branches of the radial artery were identified, seven of which involved accessory branches encountered during RFF harvest with no incidence of flap loss.

First Page

651

Last Page

659

PubMed ID

32583384

Volume

36

Issue

9

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS