Objective To investigate the operative method and cl inical efficacy of repairing fingertip defect with modified reverse homodigital artery island flap. Methods From March 2000 to September 2006, 18 cases (24 fingers) of fingertip defect were treated, including 12 males and 6 females aged 18-53 years (mean 29 years). Defect was caused by crush injuries in 12 cases, by avulsion injury in 3 cases, by twist injury in 2 cases and by incised injury in 1 case. The time from injury tooperation was 2-8 hours (mean 4 hours). The location were index fingers (3 fingers), middle fingers (4 fingers) and ring fingers (17 fingers). The defects of soft tissue were 1.9 cm × 1.7 cm to 2.4 cm × 1.9 cm in size, the reverse homodigital artery island flaps were from 2.0 cm × 1.5 cm to 2.5 cm × 2.0 cm in size. The donor site was repaired with dumped skin grafting(3 cases) and with skin grafting from medial area of planta pedis (15 cases). Results Skin flaps and skin grafting of all the 24 fingers survived after operation. All incisions and donor sites healed by first intention. Sixteen patients (22 fingers) were followed up for 1-5 years (mean 3.2 years).The appearance and function of the flaps were all satisfactory. Two-point discriminations of flaps ranged from 4.5 mm to 6.3 mm. According to the total active movement/total passive movement assessment criteria, the results were excellent in 20 fingers and good in 2 fingers; and the excellent and good rate was 100%. The circumference of donor site was 2.0-3.5 mm shorter than that of normal side. The two-point discriminations of donor site was 7.8-10.5 mm. Conclusion Repairing defect of fingertip with modified reverse homodigital artery island flap can provide good texture and contour matching the recipient area, good function and l ittle trauma at donor site.
Objective To choose the homodigital and the heterodigital flaps in the reconstruction of the distal finger injuries and to summarize the treatment results obtained in the clinical practice. Methods From August 2001 to June 2005, 112 injured fingers in 108 patients (68 males, 40 females; aged 16-63 years) were surgically treated. The injuries were due to remotion, crushing or avulsion, and they underwent operations 2 hours after the injuries. Nine kinds of flaps were taken from the dorsal or volar aspect of the injured fingers to cover the defects of the distal fingers. The flaps were divided into two kinds: ① The flaps were nourished by the main digital arterial branches, including the V-Y island flap based on the digital neurovascular bundles, the reversed digital artery flap, the modified Moberg flap, and the twins flaps based on the digital general neurovascular bundles (flaps ranging in area from 1.5 cm × 2.0 cm); and ② The flaps were nourished by the collateral digital arterial branches, including the dorsoulnar arterial retrograde flap of the thumb(flaps ranging in area from 1.5 cm×1.5 cm to 3.0 cm×2.5 cm) andthe reverse flap based on the dorsal branches of the digital artery (flaps ranging in area from 1.7 cm×1.0 cm to 4.5 cm×3.0 cm), the volar flap based on the transverse palmar branch of the digital artery (flaps ranging in area from 2.0 cm×1.0 cm to 2.5 cm×2.0 cm), and the island flap from the dorsum ofthe index finger and the digital local flaps. Results The follow-up for 2 weeks to 8 months revealed that all the flaps survived with an exception of flap necrosis in 3 patients and superficial necrosis in 3 patients. The sensation reached almost normal levels in the flaps based on collateral digital arteries and the twopoint discrimination was between 5 mm and 10 mm in the flaps based on the arterial branches. The finger motion ability was good and the finger appearance was satisfactory. Conclusion The choice of the above-mentioned skin flaps can repair the soft tissue defects of the distal parts of the fingers, which can have a satisfactory restoration contour.
Objective To observe the clinical effects of neurovascular island flap from the same finger for repairing pulp defect. Methods From November 2003 to February 2005, 32 pulp defects in 30 cases were covered with neurovascular island flap from the same finger.There were 25 males and 5 females. The age ranged from 18 to 56 years. The operation was performedafter debridement and 2-8 days antibiotics therapy. The defect area ranged from 1.5 cm×1.2 cm to 3.5 cm×2.1 cm. The flap was harvested on the dorsal part ofthe finger ularly or radially. The distal end of the flap should be more than 5mm away from the nail base to avoid nail injury. The ventral and dorsal cut should not exceed the middle line respectively. The flap size ranged from 2.0 cm×1.5 cm to4.0 cm×2.5 cm. The donor site was covered with flap of subdermal vascular plexus from the medial side of the upper arm. Results All 32 transferred flaps survived after operation. There was no vascular crisis. Twentyfive cases were followed up from 2 to 8 months. The flaps had good appearance and texture and blood circulation. Two-point discrimination was 7-10 mm. The function of finger motion was returned to normal. Conclusion Transfer of neurovascular island flap from the same finger offered a sensational skin flap for reconstruction of pulp defect. The technique was simple, andthe clinical result was satisfactory. It is an ideal method for reconstruction of thumb or finger pulp defects.
To investigate an effective method in clinical application of using different kinds of skin flaps for repair of the finger deep burns. Methods The groin skin flap, the paraumbilical skin flap, the volar digital advancement flap, the island flap from the dorsum of the index finger, the lateral digital neurovascular island flap, and the island skin flap nourished by the cutaneous nerve nutrient vessel of the dorsum were employed to repair 157 fingers in 101 patients (78 males, 23 females, aged 12-56 years, averaged 34.6 years) from January 1997 to December 2006. Of the 101patients, 37 had a deep partial thickness burn involving 59 fingers, and 64 hada full thickness burn involving 98 fingers. The soft tissue defects ranged in area from 1.0 cm×1.0 cm to 6.5 cm×6.0 cm. The interval between the injury and the operation was 4 hours to 5 days in 89 patients, and 18 to 27 days in the other 12 patients who also had infected wounds. The flaps ranged in size from 1.2 cm×1.2 cm to 7.8 cm×6.5 cm. The donor site was directly sutured in 84 patients, and the donor site was covered by a full thickness skin graft in the other 17 patients. Results After operation, 98 patients had an incision healing by first intention and the flaps survived well; the other 3 patients had congestion and necrosis in the flap edges, and had a delayed healing after the dressing changes. All the donor sites had a healing by first intention. The followup of all the patients for 224 months averaged 6.5 months revealed that 9 patients, who had been given the paraumbilical skin flap, had a fat and clumsy finger; 14 patients, who had been given the groin skin flap, also had a fat and clumsy finger; 3 patients developed congestion and necrosis at their edges. The remaining patients had a satisfactory survival of the skin flaps and a normallyshaped finger. The flaps had a good appearance, with the twopoint discrimination of 510 mm, the good finger motion ability, and the satisfactory finger appearance.Conclusion The volar digital advancement flap,the island flap from the dorsum of the index finger, the lateral digital neurov ascular island flap, and the island skin flap nourished by the cutaneous nerve nutrient vessel of the dorsum are good skin flaps for repair of the finger deep burns. The groin skin flap and the paraumbilical skin flap are also good skin flaps for repair of the deep burns of the mutiple fingers but the postoperative finger may become a bit fat and clumsy.
The comprehensive rehabilitative treatment was used in 58 cases(194 finger)for functional impairment after eplantation. After the treatment the overall increase of flexion-extension range of motion was 30 to 130 degrees respectively. From the assessment of 10 items of daily activities, the patients could accomplish three-fourth of them. the average time taken for the treatment was 3 months with an excellent-good rate about 87.4%. Through the early comprehensive rehabilititive treatment patients could achieve better results.
Objective To investigate the surgical procedures and cl inical outcomes of the neurovascular free flap based on dorsal branch of digital artery of ring finger graft for repair of finger pulp defect. Methods From February 2006 to May 2009, 11 cases (11 fingers) of finger pulp defect with tendon and bone exposure were treated, including 8 males and 3 females with an average age of 29 years (range, 23-40 years). The defect locations were thumb in 2 cases, index finger in 5 cases, and middle finger in 4 cases. The defect size ranged from 1.0 cm × 1.0 cm to 2.5 cm × 2.0 cm. The time frominjury to operation was 1-9 hours. The flap size ranged from 1.5 cm × 1.5 cm to 3.0 cm × 2.5 cm. Five flaps carried the dorsal branch of digital nerve, 6 flaps carried nervi digitales dorsales. The flaps were cut from proximal radial dorsal ring finger in 4 cases and from promximal ulnar dorsal ring finger in 7 cases. Defect of donor site was repaired with full-thickness skin grafting. Results All flaps and grafted skins survived; wound and incision of donor site achieved heal ing by first intention Eleven patients were followed up 6 to 24 months with an average of 12 months. The other finger flaps had good texture and shape except for 1 flap with sl ightly bloated. The activities of finger distal interphalangeal joint were normal, the two-point discrimination of finger pulp was 7-12 mm. The extension and flexion activities of donor fingers were normal, the ringl ike thread scar left at the donor site. Conclusion It is an ideal method to use the neurovascular free flap based on dorsal branch of digital artery of ring finger graft for repair of finger pulp defect, which has the advantages of simple operation, good appearance, and functional recovery.
Since 1992, the retrograde island skin flap with its pedicle containing the arteria pollicis dorsalis was used to repair 6 cases of the fingertip defects and the results were successful. The skin measured from 1.5cm x 2cm to 4cm x 3.5cm. From the followup, the external appearance of the thumbs looked nice, no limitation of joint motions was noticed and the pain sensation was recovered. The major improvement of this operation was that the donor skin was chosen from the dorsum of the first and second metacarpal bones, thus it was not necessary to divide the tendon of the extensor pollicis brevis, so that the operative procedure was simple and the postoperative functional recovery was rapid.
Objective To investigate the method and cl inical outcomes of repairing the skin and tissue defect of the finger pulp with transverse digital palmar island flap. Methods From August 2007 to September 2008, 9 patients with skin and tissue defects of the finger pulp were treated, including 6 males and 3 females aged 18-48 years old. The defect was caused bycrush injury by machine in 6 cases, pressure injury by heavy objects in 2 cases, and abrasion injury by grinding wheel in 1 case. The defect was located in the index finger in 4 cases, the middle finger in 2 cases, the ring finger in 3 cases, the proximal phalanx in 1 case, the middle phalanx in 7 cases, and the distal phalanx in 1 case. The defect size ranged from 1.3 cm × 1.0 cm to 2.5 cm × 1.5 cm. The defect was compl icated with unilateral blood vessel and nerve defect in 8 cases, bone fracture in 2 cases, and tendon exposure in 5 cases. The time between injury and hospital admission was 20 minutes-14 hours. Transverse digital palmar island flaps (2.0 cm × 1.2 cm-4.0 cm × 1.7 cm) were used to repair the soft tissue defect during operation. The donor site was repaired with full-thickness skin graft. Results All the flaps and skin graft at the donor site survived uneventfully. All the wounds healed by first intention. Nine patients were followed up for 6-17 months. The appearance of the flaps was similar to that of the uninjured side, there was no occurrence of obvious pigmentation and scar contracture, and the two-point discrimination value was 8-11 mm. According to the function evaluation standard for the replantation of severed finger by Chinese Medical Association Hand Surgery Academy, 8 cases were graded as excellent, 1 as good. Conclusion Repairing the skin and tissue defects in the finger pulp of middle and distal phalanx with transverse digital palmar island flap can simpl ify the operation procedure, reduce the suffering of the patient, and provide satisfying therapeutic effect.
Thumb and finger reconstruction by the method of pedal digit transplantation had been successfully performed in 541 casee from 1977 to 1996, which contained 404 cases of thumbs and 78 cases of fingers. The thumb reconstruction was mainly the simple transplantation of distal phalanx (42 cases) and the compound transplantation of hallucal nail-cutaneous flap with iliac bone segment (16 cases) for the defect of thumbs in degree 1 and 2. The combined transplantation of hallucal nail-cutaneous flap with the joint and tendons of the second toe (34 cases) and the transplantation of the distal part of the second toe (182 cases) for the defect of degree 3 and 4. The combined transplantation of the second pedal digit with its metatarsalphalangeal joint (189 caese) for the defect in degree 5 and 6. The finger reconstruction was performed by anastomosis of the arteries of the digit with those of the fingers for 29 cases with the defect in degree 2 and 3, 60 cases with the defect in degree 4 and 5, and 17 cases with the defect in degree 6. One-hundred and four cases of versels vasiation were found in this group (19 cases with the pedal dorsal artery, 13 cases with the greater saphenous vein and 72 cases with the first dorsal metatarsal artery). The main point of the operation and the treatment of the vessel variations were discussed.
ObjectiveTo explore the effectiveness of the free anastomosis cutaneous nerve double arterialized venous flap graft in repairing finger defect. MethodsBetween May 2010 and May 2013, 39 patients with finger defect were treated. There were 27 males and 12 females with an average age of 31 years (range, 17-45 years). The injury to admission time was 30-90 minutes (mean, 60 minutes). The causes included mechanical injury in 23 cases, crush injury in 11 cases, and other injury in 5 cases. The thumb was involved in 13 cases, the index finger in 11 cases, the middle finger in 9 cases, the ring finger in 4 cases, and the little finger in 2 cases. Skin soft tissue defect ranged from 2 cm×1 cm to 4 cm×2 cm. of them, 22 cases had tendon injury, 17 cases had tendon and phalanx injuries. The size of free anastomosis cutaneous nerve double arterialized venous flap ranged from 2.5 cm×1.5 cm to 4.5 cm×2.5 cm. The donor site was directly sutured. ResultsTension blister and swelling were observed at distal flap in 5 cases at 3-5 days after operation and were cured after symptomatic treatment; the other 34 flaps survived, and wound healed by first intention. Primary healing at donor site was obtained. The patients were followed up 6-12 months (mean, 9 months). The flap appearance and texture were good with two-point discrimination of 6-9 mm (mean, 7.5 mm). According to the upper extremity function evaluation criteria issued by the Hand Surgery Society of Chinese Medical Association, the results were excellent in 35 cases and good in 4 cases. ConclusionThe free anastomosis cutaneous nerve double arterialized venous flap not only can ensure the flap blood supply, but also can obviously improve the sensory function of the flap, which greatly reduces the risk of postoperative flap atrophy, and can achieved satisfactory effectiveness.