An improved technique for repairing hand defects with abdominal pedicled flaps / 南方医科大学学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the feasibility a modified method for repairing hand soft tissue defects using abdominal pedicle flaps.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Between January 1997 and October 2010, abdominal pedicle flaps were used to repair hand soft tissue defects in 108 cases. A strategy of segmented skin-flap ligations was adopted for early pedicle cut-off with early separation of the combined fingers, donor site closure with auxiliary flaps and application of thin flap and full-thickness skin graft.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Ligation of the pedicle site only was performed in 68 cases with an average time of pedicle cut-off of 10 days. Pedicle cut-off and separation of the combined fingers were simultaneously performed in 40 cases without flap necrosis. The healing rate of the donor sites reached 96.8%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The method is simple, safe and reliable and allows simultaneous pedicle cut-off and separation of the combined fingers to ensure good functional and appearance recovery of the hand with soft tissue defect.</p>