Digital Artery Perforator Flaps.
10.15596/ARMS.2015.24.2.50
- Author:
Kwang Seog KIM
1
Author Information
1. Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea. pskim@chonnam.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Review
- Keywords:
Perforator flap;
Island flap;
Finger;
Hand;
Reconstructive surgical procedure
- MeSH:
Arteries*;
Fingers;
Hand;
Microsurgery;
Perforator Flap*;
Reconstructive Surgical Procedures;
Skin
- From:Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
2015;24(2):50-55
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
In the hand, few vessels can be classified as 'perforators'. Even today, the debate continues on whether or not branches of the digital artery should be considered as perforators. However, 'perforator' and 'perforator flaps' have become extremely popular within the microsurgery literature, and as such, the terminology has found widespread adoption across the hand surgery field. The finger is the most important sensory organ for tactile stimulation. The glabrous skin can be distinguished between the fingertip and the proximal tissue, with the fingertip having a higher functional and, therefore, reconstructive priority. Thus, sacrifice of the proximal glabrous skin can be justified in the reconstruction of fingertip defects. In this paper, the author reviews two flaps, 'lateral digital artery perforator flap' and 'volar digital artery perforator flap', both of which uses short branches of the digital artery as a vascular pedicle and are useful in fingertip construction.
