Repair of soft tissue defect at finger tip with square island flap pedicled with skin perforator of digital artery on the distal interphalangeal joint

Abstract

To investigate the repair of soft tissue defect at finger tip with square island flap pedicled with skin perforator of digital artery on the distal interphalangeal joint (DIP). From Jun. 2009 to Mar. 2010, 15 cases with soft tissue defects at 15 fingers tip were treated with this island flaps. The flap size ranged from 1.2 cm x 0.8 cm to 2. 0 cm x 3.0 cm. The defects at donor sites were covered with skin grafts from forearm. All the flaps and skin grafts survived. 10 fingers in 10 cases were followed up for 6-12 months. The color, texture and contour of the flaps were good. The two-point discrimination distance was 5-6 mm on the directed island flaps, and 7-10 mm on the reverse island flaps. No obvious functional problem was found in DIP motion. The hand function was assessed as excellent in 8 fingers, good in 1 finger and medium in 1 finger. The main artery and nerve will not be sacrificed when the island flap is used. The operative procedures are easily performed for the treatment of fingertip skin defect.