Challenges Posed by Delayed Presentation of Mutilating Hand Injuries.

Management of mutilating hand injury is a challenge for any hand surgeon. Delay in presentation makes management even more challenging, usually because of inadequate initial assessment, inadequate debridement leading to infection, and secondary loss of tissues from exposure and desiccation. The aim is to obtain a functional hand by radical debridement, adequate assessment of the injury, appropriately timed reconstruction, and physiotherapy and rehabilitation. The hand surgeon must pay attention to the appearance of the hand by elimination of deformities, unsightly scars and bulky flaps to help to restore confidence in the patient to face the demands of daily living.

Thoracodorsal artery perforator flap: Indeed a versatile flap.

INTRODUCTION: The thoracodorsal artery perforator (TDAP) flap has emerged as one of the ideal perforator flaps. We, hereby, describe its versatility in indications (free/pedicled), methods of harvest (patient position and paddle orientation) and perforator consistency. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We have performed a total of six TDAP flaps-five free and one pedicled, over a period of 1-year from March 2014 to February 2015 at a single centre. Our indications have been: Reconstruction of oral cavity, breast and upper and lower extremities. RESULTS: We had neither any failures nor any re-explorations. The average perforator length is about 6 cm and the pedicle length can be extended to 12-14 cm by including the thoracodorsal artery. There is inconsistency in perforator position; however, the presence of a perforator is certain. It can be harvested in lateral, prone or supine position, thus, does not require any position change allowing a two-team approach to reconstruction. The paddle can be oriented vertically or horizontally, both healing with scars in inconspicuous locations. Apart from providing a good colour match for extremities, this flap can be thinned primarily. CONCLUSION: The versatility of TDAP has several advantages that make it a workhorse flap for most reconstructions requiring soft tissue cover. Further, the ease of harvest makes it a good perforator flap for beginners. Its use in chimerism with the underlying latissimus dorsi muscle provides reconstruction for coverage and volume replacement.

A simple and effective way of maintaining the microvascular field clean and dry during anastomosis.

During microvascular anastomosis, it is important to maintain the microsurgical field irrigated yet dry so as to achieve a good view of the vessels for approximation. In this method, an infant feeding tube (size 4), with its tip sandwiched between layers of dry gauze and a surgical glove component placed in the anastomotic field and the other end connected to a suction apparatus, is used to maintain the microsurgical field free from flooding. It also has the additional advantage of providing a stable platform for microvascular anastomosis.

Unfavourable results in thumb reconstruction.

The history of thumb reconstruction parallels the history of hand surgery. The attributes that make the thumb unique, and that the reconstructive surgeon must assess and try to restore when reconstructing a thumb, are: Position, stability, strength, length, motion, sensibility and appearance. Deficiency in any of these attributes can reduce the utility of the reconstructed thumb. A detailed assessment of the patient and his requirements needs to be performed before embarking on a thumb reconstruction. Most unsatisfactory results can be attributed to wrong choice of procedure. Component defects of the thumb are commonly treated by tissue from adjacent fingers, hand or forearm. With refinements in microsurgery, the foot has become a major source of tissue for component replacement in the thumb. Bone lengthening, osteoplastic reconstruction, pollicisation, and toe to hand transfers are the commonest methods of thumb reconstruction. Unfavourable results can be classified as functional and aesthetic. Some are common to all types of procedures. However each type of reconstruction has its own unique set of problems. Meticulous planning and execution is essential to give an aesthetic and functionally useful thumb. Secondary surgeries like tendon transfers, bone grafting, debulking, arthrodesis, may be required to correct deficiencies in the reconstruction. Attention needs to be paid to the donor site as well.