The cutaneous blood supply of the neck: relevance to incision planning and surgical reconstruction.

Previous descriptions of the blood supply of the neck have been contradictory. Neck dissections were performed on 17 adult cadavers after perfusion with radio-opaque microfil silicone rubber compound. In four cadavers cervical incisions were created and flaps elevated prior to perfusion to help demonstrate vascular pathways. In all cadavers myocutaneous perforators were seen passing from the sternocleidomastoid, strap muscles, and trapezius to supply the dermal-subdermal plexus. Also, there were consistently identifiable branches of the superior thyroid, posterior auricular, occipital, facial and transverse cervical arteries, which supply both the platysmal vascular plexus and the overlying dermal-subdermal plexus. The dermal-subdermal plexus is continuous across the midline and this contralateral pathway is supplied chiefly from branches of the superior thyroid artery, facial artery, and myocutaneous perforators of the strap muscles. This information may be useful in the planning of cervical incisions and the design of platysma myocutaneous flaps.