Objective To explore the method and effectiveness of abdominal expanded subdermal vascular plexus skin flaps in repairing dorsal hand scar. Methods Between May 2005 and October 2010, 16 cases of dorsal hand scars weretreated with the abdominal expanded flaps. There were 13 males and 3 females, aged 22.5 years on average (range, 10-35 years). Defect was caused by burn in 10 cases, hot crush injury in 4 cases, and scald injury in 2 cases. The average scar formation was 21 months (range, 1 year and 6 months to 2 years). The patients had flexion restriction of metacarpophalangeal joint and interphalangeal joint. The scar size ranged from 11 cm × 7 cm to 18 cm × 10 cm. The expander was implanted in abdominal skin and inflated with water regularly at the first stage. After 2 weeks, the expanded pedicled flap was trasferred to repair wounds in which scars were excised. The flap size ranged from 12 cm × 9 cm to 19 cm × 12 cm. After being cut off the pedicle at 14 days, the fingers were divided, and the digital web was formed. The abdominal donor site was directly sutured. Results All flaps survived. The wound and donor site achieved primary heal ing. Sixteen cases were followed up 1 year and 2 months to 3 years with an average of 2 years and 3 months. The flaps had soft texture and good flexibil ity. At last follow-up, hand function was graded as excellent in 13 cases, good in 2 cases, and poor in 1 case with an excellent and good rate of 93.7% according to the total active motion evaluation system. Conclusion Abdominal expanded subdermal vascular plexus skin flap is an effective method to repair large scar of the dorsal hand because it has satisfactory texture, fast rebuilding of blood supply, and large area of survival.
Objective To summarize the operation opportunity and recovery effect of pedicle skin flap of subdermal vascular plexus on repairing theraw surface of hand injury. Methods From January 1999 to June 2004, the thoracic or abdominal pedicle skin flap of subdermal vascular plexus was used to repair the raw surface of hand with defect of skin and soft tissue in 22 patients with hand injury. 17 cases were males, 5 cases were females, the ages ranged from 9 to 42. Thecauses of hand injuryincluding avulsed wound in 12 cases, mangled injury in 2 cases, hot crush injury in 5 cases, electric burn in 3 cases; 13 cases needed emergency operation, 9 cases needed operation in 3 to 7 days. The thoracic or lower abdominal flap was selected depending on the raw surface of hand injury. Subcutaneous fat was trimmed and retained the thickness of 2 to 4 mm. The skin flap was designed into 2 to 3 leaves to form several pedicle skin flap of subdermal vascular plexus, which were used to repair defect of skin and soft tissue of several fingers. The defect site of skin and soft tissue of hand were put into flap.Results A little of skin flap in distal end became necrosis in 1 case after operation, but recovered fully after changing dressing to the raw surface. The rest of the flaps all survived. Followup was conducted 3 months to 2 years.The pedicle skin flap was living,the skin of the recipient site was smooth and integrated, color and luster was satisfactory and texture was soft.The disrupted pedicle skin flap needed no trimming. The hand function was significantly recovered. Conclusion To repair the defect of skin andsoft tissue in the hand injury by using thoracic or lower abdominal pedicle skin flap of subdermal vascular plexus has the forte of shorter course of treatment and better functional recovery and good outlook. It is one of the ideals for repairing the hand injury with defect of skin and soft tissue.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical application of subdermal vascular network skin flap pre-fabricated by ultrasonic liposuction in reconstruction of digital avulsion. METHODS: Forty-seven injured fingers of 23 cases were treated from June 1997 to February 2000. Conventional abdominal skin flap was elevated, according to the size of digital avulsion, and subcutaneous fat was removed with scissors. Ultrasonic liposuction technology was adopted, in order to minimize the injury of subdermal vascular vessels, to remove the fat particles close to the vascular network. Finally, the pre-fabricated skin flap was used to repair the digital avulsion. The vascular pedicle was severed in 5 to 7 days after operation. The range of skin flap was 4 cm x 3 cm to 8 cm x 7 cm, and the ratio of length and width was (2 to 3) to 1. RESULTS: All the skin flaps were survived. Twenty-one patients were available for postoperative follow-up for 6 to 24 months. The motion of interphalangeal joint achieved functional recovery, and the sensation of pain, temperature and taction recovered well. CONCLUSION: Ultrasonic liposuction does not obviously injure the subdermal vascular network skin flap, it is a simple and safe method for treatment of digital avulsion.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of subcutaneous tissue trimming on the survival skin area of avulsion skin flap. METHODS: Degloving injury was created in bilateral hind limbs of 7 pigs with avulsion injury machine, 4 cm x 10 cm avulsion skin flaps were elevated in degloving areas. Skin flaps in one side were replanted as control without any treatment. Subcutaneous tissue in the skin flaps of another side was partially excised and replanted by trimmed skin flaps. Survival skin flaps was calculated with computer at 7 days after operation. RESULTS: In the control group, the survival skin area was (40.41 +/- 9.23)%, while in the experimental group, the survival skin area was (60.90 +/- 15.26)%. There was significant difference between the two groups (P lt; 0.05). CONCLUSION: Trimming off subcutaneous tissue does improve the survival area of avulsion skin flap.
OBJECTIVE In order to solve the difficult problem of one-stage repair of degloving injury of multiple fingers, the common pedicled ilio-inguinal-hypogastric subdermal vascular network skin flap was designed and the multi-lobes skin flap was performed subsequently. METHODS From 1993 to 1996, there were 5 cases with degloving injuries of multiple fingers were treated by this flap. There were 2 males and 3 females and the age ranged from 7 to 19 years old. RESULTS After operation, the pedicles of the flap was detached between 12 to 16 days and all of the flaps survived completely. Patients were followed up for 6-18 months. After repair, the contour and skin colour of the digits were excellent, and the motion of the interphalangeal joints and skin sensation were good. CONCLUSION The conclusion was as follows: The newly designed skin flap was characterized by the advantages of duration of treatment being short, excellent contour and more rapid recovery of function. It could be used for one-stage repair of degloving injury of multiple fingers.
In order to resolve the shortcomings of traditional pedicled abdominal skin flap, the pedicled abdominal subcorium vascular-net flap was reformed and applied clinically. Twenty-eight cases with scar on hand or wrist were treated, including 20 males and 8 females. The age was ranged from 18 to 35 years old. The key point in the design was rotating 45 degrees of the flap from the primary site toward the pedicle. The ratio of the length to width of the flap was 1-1.8 : 1, and the wound of the donor site was covered by direct suture. Five to seven days later, all the flaps were divided and survived. The advantages of this flap were as follows: skin-grafting on the donor site was not necessary; the time needed for cutting the pedicle was shortened, and the flap is thinner than the traditional flap.