ABSTRACT
Objective To compare the clinical outcomes of using the Hukou artery and ulnar proper digital artery of index finger translocation to reconstruct artery supply in replanting of rotated and avulsed thumb.Methods From January 2011 to May 2012,replantation surgery were carried out in 16 patients with rotated and avulsed injury of thumb.In group A,all cases were replanted by Hukou artery translocation,in which 6 males and 2 females and (27.0 ±9.5) years old in average.The causes of injury were machine strangulation (7 patients) and traffic accident (1 patient).The average time from injury to operation were(6.1 ± 3.1) hours.The amputed level were at the base of proximal phalanx (5 patients) and metacarpophalangeal joint (3 patients).In group B,all patients were replanted using ulnar proper digital artery of index finger translocation,in which 5 males and 3females and (29.7 ± 13.7) years old in average.The causes of injury were machine strangulation (6 patients) and cord wring injury (2 patient).The average time from injury to operation were(7.1 ±2.2) hours.The amputed level were at the base of proximal phalanx (4 patients) and metacarpophalangeal joint (4 patients).Results The operation time were (3.2 ± 0.8) minutes in group A and (5.3 ± 0.6) minutes in group B.All fingers were survived in both groups.All patients were followed up 3-10 months (6.9 months on average).Excellent rate reached 75.0％ in group A and 75.0％ in group B according to Criterion on Functional evaluation on Finger Reconstruction issued by Chinese society of hand surgery.There were significant differences between the two groups in operation time (P ＜ 0.05),and without differences in excellent rate (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion There are same outcome by using the Hukou artery and ulnar proper digital artery of index finger to reconstruct artery supply in replantation of rotated and avulsed thumb.However,using the Hukou artery translocation were more simple and minimally invasive.