Supraclavicular artery in Japanese: an anatomical basis for the flap using a pedicle containing a cervical, non-perforating cutaneous branch of the superficial cervical artery.

We investigated the morphology of the non-perforating cervical cutaneous branch in the lateral cervical triangle using 65 (130 sides) donated cadavers. We found the branch in 104 of the entire 130 sides (80.0%). In the majority (72.1%), the cutaneous branch did not cross the clavicle or acromion but supplied the dorsolateral cervical area. The branch was originated from the superficial cervical artery close to the posterior belly of the omohyoideus muscle and immediately lateral to the external jugular vein. The comitant vein, if present, drained into the external jugular vein. Our observations and measurements (length and diameter) suggested that the non-perforating cutaneous branch is useful for a pedicle of the dorsolateral cervical flap in Japanese people. However, detailed morphologies differ from the previous studies published in western countries.