Anatomical study of the gastrocnemius venous network and proposal for a classification of the veins.

Abstract

To present a detailed description of the gastrocnemius venous network. Anatomical study in cadavers. Forty lower limbs from 20 adult male cadavers were studied. All gastrocnemius veins were dissected from the gastrocnemius muscle heads proximally toward their drainage site. Eighty heads of 40 gastrocnemius muscles showed 438 gastrocnemius veins. The number of veins per muscle head varied between 2 and 12. There were 221 gastrocnemius trunks distributed as 95 main gastrocnemius trunks, 81 axial and 45 collateral ones. From the 95 main gastrocnemius trunks, 83 (87%) drained into the popliteal vein. Direct observation of the gastrocnemius venous network allowed us to classify the anatomical distribution as four distinct types. The majority of main gastrocnemius venous trunks drain into the popliteal vein. There is wide variability in the number of gastrocnemius veins. We propose a classification of four distinct types of anatomical pattern.