Aesthetic considerations of the medial gastrocnemius myocutaneous flap

A technique for the repair of a high anterior tibial defect is described in three clinical cases using a modified medial gastrocnemius myocutaneous island flap. The repair was done in such a way as to preserve as much of the normal contour as possible, after the fashion of the muscle flap alone, while retaining the advantages of full-thickness myocutaneous coverage of the defect. The result was an aesthetically improved reconstruction that we feel justifies further use of the gastrocnemius myocutaneous flap in selected patients.