Free quadruple paddled posterior interosseous artery flaps combined with free hallux nail flap in repair of defects of 5 digits in one hand: A case report / 中华显微外科杂志

A patient who suffered soft tissue defects of all 5 digits of left hand was referred to the Department of Hand and Foot Surgery, Affiliated Nanhua Hospital, University of South China in January 2020. A quadruple paddled posterior interosseous artery flaps was used to cover the defect in index, middle, ring and little fingers and a free hallux nail flap was used to repair the defect in thumb. Two years after operation, the appearance and texture of the flaps of all digits in the left hand were good. The function of the digits was good as well. There were slightly noticeable scars left in both the donor sites of left forearm and right foot.

Flow-through perforator flap of posterior interosseous artery in repair of dorsal digital soft tissue defect with disorder of blood supply in digital tip / 中华显微外科杂志

Objective:To investigate the clinical effect of Flow-through perforator flap of posterior interosseous artery in repair of dorsal digital soft tissue defect with disorder of blood supply in digital tip.Methods:From January 2018 to June 2020, 12 patients who had digital dorsum soft tissue defect with digital tip blood supply disorder were treated with Flow-through perforator flap of posterior interosseous artery. The size of flaps was 2.0 cm× 2.0 cm-5.5 cm×3.0 cm. The posterior interosseous artery in the flap was bridged with the proper palmar artery of digit, 1 subcutaneous vein in the flap was anastomosed with the dorsal subcutaneous vein, and 1 subcutaneous vein in the posterior interosseous artery with the palmar subcutaneous vein. The donor sites were sutured directly. The wound healing, blood supply of digit and flap survival were observed after operation. The quality of flap survival and digital joint function were observed in the follow-up reviews at outpatient clinic.Results:All the 12 Flow-through perforator flaps of posterior interosseous artery survived, the blood supply of digit was good, and the wounds healed in the first stage. The follow-up period was 6-24 months. The appearance and texture of the flaps were good without obvious bloating. Only linear scar was left in the forearm donor site. According to the Trial Standard of Upper Limb Function Evaluation of Chinese Society of Hand Surgery, the results were excellent in 11 cases and good in 1 case.Conclusion:The perforator flap of posterior interosseous artery has constant anatomy, and the diameter of blood vessel matches the blood vessels of digits. It is suitable for Flow-through technique. It has less subcutaneous tissue, no secondary thinning, and the donor site can be closed directly. It is a good method to repair the dorsal soft tissue defect with disorder of digital end blood circulation.

Repair of defects in dorsal of wrist and hand with posterior interosseous artery propeller flap: a report of 9 cases / 中华显微外科杂志

Objective:To investigate the preliminary clinical effect of posterior interosseous artery propeller flap in the repair of dorsal of wrist and hand wounds.Methods:From March, 2015 to December, 2019, 9 cases of dorsal of wrist and hand wounds were repaired with posterior interosseous artery propeller flap, including 6 cases of dorsal hand defect and 3 cases of dorsal wrist defect. Defect area: 6 cm × 4 cm-3 cm × 3 cm; There were 3 cases of metacarpal fracture, 1 case of phalangeal fracture and 1 case of tendon rupture. According to the size and shape of the wound, the posterior interosseous artery propeller flap was designed to transfer and repair the soft tissue defect wound. The size of the flap: 20 cm × 5 cm-12 cm × 3 cm, the size of posterior interosseous artery propeller flap was recorded and the surgical characteristics were summarized; The survival of the flap, donor and recipient complications were observed and followed-up.Results:All flaps were cut smoothly and the donor areas were sutured directly. The flap survived completely in 8 cases and partial necrosis in 1 case; One case complicated with wound infection. The follow-up ranged from 6 to 31 months, with an average of 14 months. The texture and shape of the flap were good; The last DASH score was 3-18, with an average of 9.3; There were 2 cases of mild scar hyperplasia in the donor area and 1 case of mild scar hyperplasia at the edge of the flap.Conclusion:Posterior interosseous artery propeller flap may be an effective method to repair small and medium-sized wounds of dorsal of wrist and hand.

The clinical curative effect for wound surface of hand heatcompression injury treated by improved posterior interosseous artery reversed island flap / 中华显微外科杂志

Objective To explore the clinical curative effect for wound surface of hand heatcompression injury treated by improved posrerior interosseous artery reversed island flap.Methods Between January,2010 and September,2015,20 patients were treated for wound surface of hand heatcompression injury.Of 20 cases,there were 16 males and 4 females,aged 18-45 years (mean,32 years);and the left hand was involved in 9 cases and the right hand in 11 cases.Two-stage repair was performed in 20 cases after emergency admission.The locations of heatcompression injury were dorsal hands in 12 cases,first webs in 6 cases,and dorsal thumb in 2 cases.The wound area of hand heatcompression injury were 4.0 cm×5.0 cm-6.0 cm×8.0 cm,which were all repaired by improved interosseous dorsal artery retrograde island flap whose area were 3.5 cm ×4.5 cm-7.0 cm×8.0 cm.One week after operation,fingers and thumb-index web began to promote rehabilitation functional training in the protection of orthosis.All patients were followed-up at regular intervals.Results All postoperative flap and the grafted skin at donor sites survived.Twenty patients were followed-up for 3-12 months (mean,6.5 months).The flaps had satisfactory appearance and soft texture.The thumb web widing and flexion and extension of the fingers were fine.According to Trial Standard Evaluation of the Upper-Limb Part Function of the Hand Surgery Association of the Chinese Medical Association,the results were excellent in 12 cases,good in 6 cases,and fair in 2 cases at 3 months after operation.Conclusion To repair wound surface of hand heatcompression injury by improved posterior interosseous artery reversed island flap is a fairly ideal operative approach.The type of operations is simple in operation,has high survival rate of postoperative skin flap.

The reason of skin flap necrosis caused by vascular crisis of reverse island flap of forearm posterior interosseous artery / 中华显微外科杂志

Objective To discuss the reason of skin flap necrosis caused by vascular crisis of reverse island flap of forearm posterior interosseous artery.Methods Eight-six patients who were underwent reverse island flap of forearm interosseous posterior artery for deep tissues and skin defect on the back of hand between March,2002 and April,2014 were analyzed in this study.Eleven patients had occurred skin flap necrosis,include 5 cases had completely flap necrosis caused by circulation crisis,and 6 cases had partial necrosis at the distal of the flap.Among the necrosis cases,5 cases were injured by the machine injury,4 cases by the heavy crush and 2 cases by the traffic accident.The cause of circulation crisis was analyzed.Results In the series,75 skin flaps survived completely and 11 cases had occurred necrosis,included completely necrosis with 5 cases.The reasons of flap crisis were as follows:for the completely necrosis,2 cases with variation of perforating branch of posterior interosseous artery,1 case with absence of posterior interosseous artery,1 case with vessel pedicel entrapment in subcutaneous tunnel,and 1 case with misconduct venous congestion caused by the reverse perfusion of superficial vein.The reason of circulation crisis of completely necrosis were as follows:2 cases with artery crisis and 3 of them with distortion of entrapment at pedicel and vein crisis.One case was cured through debridement,change of medical prescription and skin grafting;and 4 cases were cured with other flap repair technique.For the partial necrosis,2 cases with variation of perforating branch of posterior interosseous artery,1 case with excessively narrow entrapment at pedicel in subcutaneous tunnel,1 case with folding vessel pedicel entrapment of skin at the back of wrist,1 case with misconduct of superficial vein trunk and 1 case with intraoperative side-injury.The symptoms of circulation crisis of completely necrosis were as follows:2 cases with artery crisis and 4 of them with distortion of entrapment at pedicel and vein crisis.Four cases were cured through debridement and skin grafting,1 case was cured by the vacuum-sealing drainage (VSD) and 1 case with skin flap repair at pedicle of abdomen.Conclusion The anatomic variation of perforator vessel of reverse island flap of forearm posterior interosseous artery;narrow entrapment at pedicel in subcutaneous tunnel and distortion of entrapment at pedicel;venous congestion caused by the reverse perfusion of superficial vein;intraoperative side-injury of the pedicel of the flap;excessively folding vessel pedicel entrapment of skin at the back of wrist after surgery will cause the circulation crisis of reverse island flap of forearm posterior interosseous artery and induce the necrosis of the skin flap.

Management of vascular variation in free transplantation of posterior interosseous perforator flap / 中华显微外科杂志

Objective To discuss the method and treatment outcome of vascular variation in repairing skin defect of the hand by free transplantation of posterior interosseous perforator flap.Methods Eight cases with vascular variation were adjusted flap position,two cases were repaired by single perforator flap,three cases were repaired by cutting perforator and anastomosing perforator after changing the path,three cases were repaired by designing composition leaves flap.Results Seven flaps survived,one flap partly necrosis and healed by skin-grafting,and all of the patients were followed-up 3 to 18 months.The color,texture and thickness of the flaps were satisfactory.The movements of the fingers were satisfactory.According to the hand function evaluation criteria issued by the Hand Surgery Society of the Chinese Medical Association,outcomes were rated excellent in 1 case,good in 5 cases,fair in 2 cases.The excellent and good rate was 75％.Conclusion When finding vascular variation in repairing skin defect of the hand by free transplantation of posterior interosseous perforator flap,adjust flap position,repair by single perforator flap,cutting perforator and anastomosing perforator after changing the path,or designing composition leaves flap is a good treatment option.

The applied anatomy of posterior interosseous artery cutaneous branches-chain flap / 中华显微外科杂志

ObjectiveTo provide anatomy information for harvesting a pedicle or free posterior interosseous artery cutaneous branches-chain flaps. MethodsFourteen forearms from fresh human cadaver were used to study the anatomy characteristics of the posterior interosseous artery cutaneous branches-chain flaps with the following three methods:latex perfusion for microanatomy,denture materials and vinyl chloride mixed packing for cast,and PVA-bismuth oxide perfusion for molybdenum target X-ray arteriography.The cutaneous perforator with a diameter ≥ 0.2 mm were included for statistical analysis.Results① There were 6.2 cutaneous branches raised from posterior interosseous artery. Measuring from the radial edge of ulnar head to the lateral epicondyle of humerus as the standard distance, the distal cutaneous branch clusters located at 21.24％ relative to the standard distance,while the proximal clusters located at 47.86％.② There were two large cutaneous perforators from the posterior interosseous artery at(5.82 ± 1.22)cm proximal to the ulnar styloid and (10.34 ±0.98)cm distal to the epicondyle of humerus.The diameter and pedicle length of the distal perforators were(0.50± 0.04)mm and (16.79 ± 5.12)mm respectively,while the proximal perforator were (0.60 ± 0.08 )mm in diameter with a pedicle (21.20 ± 12.28)mm in length.③ The vascular chains parallel to the posterior interosseous artery were formed via anastomosis of the adjacent cutaneous perforators. ConclusionThere is clinical significance to use pedicle or free posterior interosseous artery cutaneous branches-chain flaps.

An anatomic study of the dorsal forearm perforator flaps / 中华显微外科杂志

Objective To provide anatomical landmarks with which to facilitate flap dissection,we studied the perforator artery of the dorsal forearm including its source,quantity,origination,caliber,variation and pedicle length. Methods Ten fresh cadavers were injected with a modified lead oxide-gelatin mixture,and three-dimensional graphics of the perforator vessels of the dorsal forearm were reconstructed with a computed tomography. In addition, twenty upper extremity specimens were injected with red latex via the axillary artery.The integument of the forearm was dissected,and perforators were identified,including type,course,size and location were documented.Surface areas were measured with Scion Image. Results The average number of the posterior interosseous artery cutaneous perforators in the dorsal forearm was (5±2),the average outer diameter of the perforator artories was (0.5 ± 0.1) mm,and the pedicle length was (2.5 ±0.2) cm.The average cutaneous vascular territory was (22.0 ± 15.0) cm2.The dorsal branch of the anterior interosseous artery dispersed on the wrist dorsum or the distal third of the dorsal forearm. It's average diameter was 0.8 mum. Conclusion The free transplantation of the posterior interosseous perforator artery flaps or rotary flap pedicled by the dorsal branch of the anterior interosseous artery for defect reconstruction are feasible.

Free bilobed posterior interosseous flaps for two fingers reconstruction / 中华显微外科杂志

Objective To present the therapeutic effect of the free bilobed posterior interosseous flap for soft tissue reconstruction of two fingers.Methods According to the distance between the defects of two adjacent fingers,combining the cutaneous branches of different regin,the free bilobed flaps pedicded with posterior interosseous artery were applied for soft tissue reconstruction of 20 fingers in 10 patients.The defects of digits was on thumb and index( 1 case),index and middle(2 cases),middle and ring(4 cases),ring and little (3 cases).The size of defect was ranged from 2.5 cm × 2.0 cm to 9.5 cm × 3.0 cm.The size of single flap was from 3.0 cm × 2.5 cm to 10.0 cm × 3.5 cm.Results The flaps on 19 fingers were completely survived and the flap on 1 finger had the pointed end necrosis which healed by dressing changing.After 6 to 22 months (the average was 13.8 months ) followed-up visit,all flaps were with excellent colour and texture.The flaps in 8 cases were thin and the flap in 2 case was a little thick.Eight single flaps in which the cutaneous nerve was sutured recovered 2-PD of 10 to 15 mm (the average was 12.8 mm).There was no affection in motor function on donor site of all cases.Conclusion The free bilobed posterior interosseous flap is the valuable option for two fingers soft tissue reconstruction and it can achieve the cosmetically and fuctionaly acceptable result with low morbidity on donor site.

The coverage of contracture of the first web space by flaps / 中华显微外科杂志

Objective To introduce our experiences of reconstruct the first web space using flaps.Methods One hundred and twelve patients sustained contracture of the first, summarized the indications of different flaps in coverage of the first webspace and their prognosis of these flaps were retrospectively reviewed.Results The local flaps, such as double Z-plasty or Z-plasty, were suitable to cover minor contracture of the first webspace; the dorsal flap arising from the index finger was suitable for the coverage of the medium contracture, and the posterior interosseous artery flap or the reverse antebrachial island flap based on the dorsal branch of the anterior interosseous artery suitable for the severe cases. Conclusion The usage of flaps is important to resume the cosmetic shape and function of the first webspace after release of the contracture of the first webspace.

Application of the reversed posterior interosseous artery flap in the contractures of the first web space / 中华显微外科杂志

Objective To assess and review the methods of the reversed posterior interosseous artery flap for treating the contracture of the first web space. Methods Forty-two cases of the first web space severe contracture were cured by the reversed posterior interosseous artery flap rotate at 1.5-2.0 cm proximal ulnar styloid process after release the adhesion. After operation curative effects were evaluated by measuring the first web space with Gu's method. Results The flap of 42 cases obtain success, however 3 cases was partly necrosis of epidermis. Follow-up examination was obtained in 31 cases for average 18 months after operative.The width of the first web space was augmented an average of 37.9 mm. Rehabilitation training after operation can enhance the effect of the therapy with 8.6 mm more expanded. Conclusion The flap is an ideal choice for treatment on the defect of the contracture of the first web space and rehabilitation training after operation is important.

The Reverse Posterior Interosseous Island Flap for the Reconstruction of Soft Tissue Defects in the Wrist Injured by Electrical Arc

PURPOSE: High tension electrical injuries result in major tissue(eg. bones, tendons, vessels and nerves) destruction. Therefore, the management of mutilating wrist caused by electrical injuries still represents a challenge. There are various approaches to this problem including local and regional flaps as well as pedicled distant flaps and microsurgical free tissue transfer. Although it has not gained wide acceptance, because of the technically demanding dissection of the pedicle, posterior interosseous flap is now well accepted for the reconstruction of hand and wrist in hand surgery. The principal advantages of this flap are minimal donor site morbidity, minimal vascular compromise, one stage operation. This flap also offers the advantages of ideal color match and composition. In this report, we describe our experience with the reverse posterior interosseous island flap for reconstruction of mutilating wrist with main vessel injuries. METHODS: From October, 2004 to June, 2006, we treated 11 patients with soft tissue defects and main vessel injuries on the wrist that were covered with reverse posterior interosseous island flap. RESULTS: These 11 patients were all male. The ages ranged from 27 to 67 years(mean age 41.75) and the follow-up period varied from 4 to 19 months. Complete healing of the reverse posterior interosseous island flaps were observed in 11 patients(12 flaps). The majority of these flaps showed a certain degree of venous congestion, which in a flap was treated with medical leech. 1 flap has partial necrosis owing to sustained venous congestion, requiring secondary skin graft. flap size varied from 3.5x8cm to 10x12cm(mean size 6.4x8.9m). The donor site defect was closed directly in 5 flaps, and by skin graft in 7 flaps. CONCLUSION: We found that the reverse posterior interosseous island flap is reliable and very useful for reconstruction of mutilating wrist and we recommend it as first choice in coverage of soft tissue defects in the wrist with electrical arc injuries.