Our Finger Replantation Results in the SARS-COV-2 Pandemic

Abstract

Purpose: Finger injuries are important causes of emergency department admissions. In order to perform daily activities, the fingers must work fully and flawlessly. Replantation surgery aims to keep the injured finger alive and perform its functions almost completely. Our study aims to evaluate the reasons affecting the success of replantation during the SARS COV-2 pandemic period and to question the functional recovery after replantation. Methods: Finger and hand replantation performed in a single center by the same surgeon were reviewed retrospectively. Preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative and demographic data of the patients, mechanism of injury, ischemia duration, complications, surgical treatment approaches, and functional evaluation scales after rehabilitation were collected and statistically evaluated. Results: In our study, 88 fingers of 56 patients were replanted. While single finger replantation was performed in 38 patients, multi-finger replantation was performed in 18 patients. The total success rate of replantation was 73.2%. While successful results were obtained in 81.6% of 38 patients with single finger replantation, 55.6% of 50 fingers in 18 patients with multiple finger replantation were successful. We found that 3 patients after surgery and 11 patients in the six months before surgery were positive for SARS COV-2. No finger loss or complications occurred in these 14 patients after replantation. Conclusion: We concluded that SARS COV-2 disease had no significant effect on finger replantation surgery. Our study found that the most important variables affecting surgical success were the mechanism of injury, injury level, age, gender, anesthesia technique applied, number of repaired veins, smoking, and ischemia duration.