Repair of digital soft tissue defects with a modified reversed island flap pedicled on a perforating branch of the dorsal metacarpal artery

Abstract

Objective To report operative procedures and clinical results of repairing finger soft tissue defects with a modified reversed island flap pedicled on a perforating branch of the dorsal metacarpal artery. Methods From January 2005 to March 2008,we repaired 38 finger soft tissue defects in 31 patients (26 men and 5 women) with a modified reversed island flap pedicled on a distal perforating branch of the dorsal metacarpal artery and anastomosis of the cutaneous nerve.Their ages ranged from 14 to 66 years,with a mean of 29.6 years.Altogether 11 index,18 middle,6 ring and 3 little fingers were injured.Nine patients were complicated with rupture of tendons,3 with extenso-tendon defects and 5 with middle phalanx fractures.The defect areas ranged from 1.0 cm × 0.8 cm to 3.2 cm× 2.5 cm.The flap areas ranged from 1.2 cm× 1.0 cm to 3.5 cm× 2.8 cm.The flap did not carry a full length of the dorsal metacarpal artery but only the distal perforating branch of the artery.The rotating point of the flap pedicle was altered from the dorsal to the palmar side to extend the vessel pedicle.The donor sites were closed by suture or skin graft. Results Twenty-eight patients (35 fingers) were followed up for 3 to 25 months (mean,15.3 months) .All flaps survived with satisfactory appearance,sensation and function.All flaps and donor sites obtained primary healing.The two-point discrimination was 6 to 9 mm (mean,7.7 mm).According to Total Active Movement (TAM) evaluation system,the results were excellent in 20,good in 13 and fair in 2 fingers,with a good to excellent rate of 94.3％. Conclusion The modified reversed island flap pedicled on a distal perforating branch of the dorsal metacarpal artery and anastomosis of the cutaneous nerve is an easy,safe and effective treatment for finger soft tissue defects. Key words: Fingers; Soft tissue injuries; Dorsal metacarpal artery flaps; Repair