ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the clinical outcomes of homodigital reversed dorsal digital artery island flap innervated by the dorsal digital nerve to repair degloving injury of distal thumb.Methods:From July 2016 to June 2019, a total of 15 cases (15 thumbs) with degloving injury of distal part were admitted to the Department of Hand Surgery, the Second Hospital of Tangshan. Nine males and six females were involved, with an average age of 49 years (range, 41 to 69 years). There were twist injury in eight cases and crush injury in seven cases, with four cases of distal phalanx fracture. The defect dimensions after debridement ranged from 3.5 cm×1.8 cm to 4.6 cm×2.4 cm, and the dimension of the flaps ranged from 3.8 cm×2.1 cm to 5.0 cm×2.7 cm. All defects were repaired using homodigital reversed dorsal digital artery island flap innervated by the dorsal digital nerve. The survival, appearance and sensory recovery of the flaps and function of the injured fingers were observed at the follow-up after operation.Results:All the flaps survived without wound infection and blood supply disorder. The follow-up times ranged from 9 to 22 months (mean, 16 months). There was satisfactory appearance of the flaps with similar color and texture to the surrounding tissue. Fracture healing ranged from 4 to 6 weeks. At final follow-up, the values of static 2-PD test of the flaps ranged from 5 to 10 mm (mean, 7.8 mm). The results of range of motion of injured thumb joints were excellent in nine cases and good in five cases. There was slight linear scar left at the donor area of dorsal thumb.Conclusions:The innervated reversed dorsal digital artery island flap has a simple procedure and minimal donor-site cost, which is especially suitable for elderly patients who refuse to free toe transfers.