Objective To investigate the effectiveness of cross finger flap pedicled with the dorsal branch of proper digital artery in repairing degloving injury of the fingertip. Methods Between January 2010 and June 2012, 13 cases of degloving injury of single fingertip were treated, including 9 males and 4 females with an average age of 33.6 years (range, 17-46 years). The defect locations were index finger in 5 cases, middle finger in 3 cases, ring finger in 3 cases, and little finger in 2 cases, including 4 cases of mechanical injury, 6 cases of twist injury, and 3 cases of crushing injury. The extent of skin avulsion was beyond the distal interphalangeal joint. The length of the avulsion was 1.0-2.1 cm (mean, 1.8 cm). Complicated injuries included phalangeal fracture in 2 cases. The time from injury to operation was 90-330 minutes (mean, 150 minutes). The wound was repaired with the cross finger flap pedicled with the dorsal branch of proper digital artery. The size of flaps ranged from 3.2 cm × 2.3 cm to 4.2 cm × 3.1 cm. After 3-4 weeks, the pedicle was cut. The donors were closed by skin graft. Results Tension blisters of the flap and partial necrosis of skin graft occurred in 3 cases and in 1 case respectively, which were cured after symptomatic treatment; the flap and skin graft survived, and primary healing was obtained in the other cases. Thirteen patients were followed up 6-10 months (mean, 7 months). The texture and appearance of all the flaps were satisfactory. At 6 months after operation, two-point discrimination ranged from 7 to 10 mm (mean, 8.1 mm). The total active movement of the fingers were excellent in 10 cases and good in 3 cases, and the excellent and good rate was 100%. Conclusion The treatment of degloving injury of fingertip with the cross finger flap pedicled with the dorsal branch of proper digital artery is recommendable for the advantages of reliable blood supply, simple operation, high survival rate of the flap, good function recovery of the finger, and satisfactory appearance.
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.