Medial gastrocnemius resection for calf reduction by using a popliteal mini-incisional approach in Asians.

Background: To create a new approach of resecting medial gastrocnemius for calf reduction and to meet the increasing requirement of the beauty standard of calf sliming in Asian.

Methods: Twenty patients with 39 calves underwent gastrocnemius resection for calf reduction. Under general anesthesia, a 5 cm incision, along the popliteal crease, was made down to the sub-popliteal deep fascia on a prone position. The medial belly of the gastrocnemius muscle was then dissected, in a blunt way, from the popliteal fossa down to the Achilles tendon around the muscular belly when its neurovascular bundle was ligated and cut off. Thereafter, the medial gastrocnemius was pulled out of the wound and incised transversely off at the level of the popliteal fossa while the attachment to the Achilles was transected with a long rectangular scissors. The incisional wound was finally closed in layers.

Results: Twenty patients with 39 calves were treated using the above-mentioned technique without severe complications. The harvested gastrocnemius muscle weighed 192.1 g in mean (from 104.5 g to 307.6 g). The calf circumference was significantly decreased from 36.3 cm in mean to 32.8 cm in mean before and after the operation (p <0.05).

Conclusions: The above-mentioned technique may be a safer, simpler, and more efficient method for calf reduction with less morbidity of the potential complications, in comparison with the traditional techniques.