High-energy lower limb trauma may result in complex defects with
extensive vascular damage. Free flap reconstruction in these cases may require vein
grafts to reach healthy proximal recipient vessels. Vascular loops are an increasingly
popular technique in managing recipient vessels in reconstructive microsurgery,
especially in the lower limb. The use of an entire omega segment of the
greater saphenous vein had not been described before but offered two advantages:
the caliber match for arterial repair was better using one of the limbs of the omega
compared with the parent greater saphenous vein, and it allowed two venous anastomoses
instead of one. A case report of a fully bifurcated segment of the greater
saphenous vein as a vascular loop for microvascular reconstruction in the lower
limb is presented. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no similar case has been
reported previously.
