Continuous blood-letting for congestion in replantation of the amputated finger

Abstract

Experimental and clinical studies have been made on the function of the venous system in the replantation of the contused severed finger. In experiments on rats replantation of severed limbs was more successful in a group treated by continuous blood-letting and anastomosis of the artery alone, compared with controls in which only the artery was anastomosed. Histologically, in the first group there was less congestion, thrombus-formation, oedema and exudative haemorrhage in the initial stage; in the reparative phase there was less granulation and the degree of muscular degeneration was very slight. Clinically, contused, severed fingers were successfully replanted when venous anastomosis was impossible or incomplete, by using the fish-mouth incision for continous blood-letting. The resulting scar caused no problem aesthetically or functionally.