[Applied anatomy of the submental island flap]

To observe the anatomy of the island flap based on the submental vessels for clinical applications, the blood supply in the submental region was studied on 51 cadavers by microsurgical dissection and dye injection. It was found that the submental region is supplied by the submental artery, which is a constant branch of the facial artery (100% rate of occurrence). The vessel was 60.0 +/- 7.9 mm in length with a diameter of 1.75 +/- 0.15 mm (mean +/- s) at its origin. There were rich anastomoses between submental arteries of both sides. Based on the reliable pedicle, the flap dimension can be as large as 130 mm x 65 mm.