The peroneus brevis muscle flap for lower leg defects

The peroneus brevis is a small muscle with a Mathes-Nahai type II vascular pattern found in the lateral compartment of the leg. It is supplied by branches of the peroneal artery and it maintains its muscular component to the lateral malleolus, allowing it to be transposed to cover small distal third defects. The authors describe their experience with eight peroneus brevis flaps covered with split-thickness skin grafts utilized to cover lateral malleolar fractures with exposed hardware or bone and one case of exposed Achilles' tendon. Seven flaps were successful and one (in a diabetic) underwent partial necrosis, requiring a small fasciocutaneous flap. The peroneus brevis flap provides limited coverage of the distal third of the leg but can be quite useful for problematic wounds of this difficult area.