Surgical Patterns of Venous Drainage of the Free Forearm Flap in Head and Neck Reconstruction

A retrospective review of 40 consecutive free forearm flaps used in head and neck reconstruction in our Head and Neck Service identified five different patterns of venous drainage. In type 1, the cephalic vein and two venae comitantes join into a larger median cubital vein, which itself splits into two sizable branches (n = 8, two anastomoses). In type 2, a median cubital vein drains both the cephalic vein and the two venae comitantes (n = 17, …