Background: The superior gluteal artery (SGA) is the largest, terminating branch of the internal iliac artery (IIA). Knowledge about the anatomy of the SGA is extremely important when performing numerous reconstructive and endovascular procedures.
Materials and methods: The results of 75 consecutive patients who underwent pelvic computed tomography angiography (CTA) were analyzed.
Results: A total of 145 SGA were analyzed. The origin variation of each SGA was deeply analyzed. Type O1 occurred in 79 SGA (56.4%). Furthermore, analogously, a branching pattern types were also established. Initially 19 branching variations were evaluated, of which types 1-7 constituted 76.5%. The median SGA length was set to be 54.88 mm (LQ = 49.63 ; HQ = 63.26). The median SGA origin diameter, in cases of SGA originating from PDIIA was set to be 6.27 mm (LQ = 5.56 ; HQ = 6.87).
Conclusions: The origin of the said artery showed a low grade of variability, and the most prevalent origin type of the SGA was similar to the one presented by the major anatomical textbooks, namely, the PDIIA. However, the branching pattern of the SGA was highly variable. To present the anatomy of the SGA in a clear and straight-forward way, novel classification systems of the origin and branching patterns were made. Furthermore, the morphometric properties of the branches of the PDIIA were analyzed. It is hoped that the results of the present study may be useful for physicians performing numerous reconstructive and endovascular procedures.
Keywords: anatomy; plastic surgery; superior gluteal artery; superior gluteal artery perforator flap; surgery.