Design and application of the reversed dorsal metacarpal island flap pedicled on the digital proper artery / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

objective To explore a new method of repairing skin defects complicated with fracture and tendon rupture at the middle and distal sections of the second to fifth fingers. Methods The reversed dorsal metacarpal island flap was designed to be pedicled on the digital proper artery-common digital artery-fingerweb artery-dorsal metacarpal artery-cutaneous branch of dorsal metacarpal artery.In repairing digital palmar skin defects,after the flap was dissected,the proximal incision was extended along the direction of dorsal metacarpal nerve to harvest an enough length of the nerve so that the dorsal metacrppal nerve can be anastomosed with the digital proper nerve to restore the sensation of finger pulp.From the June 2003 to March 2009,the flap was used to repair 26 fingers in 24 patients with middle and distal digital skin defects complicated with fracture and tendon rupture.They were 17 men and 7 women,aged from 16 to 63 years (average,37 years).There were 15 cases of palmar skin defect and 9 cases of dorsal skin defect.In the 2 cases of combined tendon defects,a section of the extensor tendon of index(or little) finger was dissected together with the flap to repair the tendon rupture. Results The areas of the flap ranged from 3.1 cm ×1.6 cm to 6.0 cm × 4.0 cm.The flaps survived in all 24 cases without any vascular crisis.Twenty-two patients obtained an average follow-up of 14 months (from 4 to 32 months) but 2 were lost to the follow-up.The flaps were fine in texture,colour and appearance.The finger pulps appeared full and recovered sensations of pain and temperature.The average two-point discrimination was 7.5 mm (from 5 to 9 mm).Sensory function evaluation revealed an outcome of S3 + ～ S4.Tendon adhesion occurred in 4 cases which recovered digital function following secondary lysis 3 to 6 months postoperation. Conclusion Application of the reversed dorsal metacarpal island flap pedicled on the digital proper artery is a good way to repair skin defects complicated with fracture and tendon rupture at the middle and distal sections of the second to fifth fingers.