Clinical Experiences of Finger Replantation in Pediatric Patients

Shin, Jin Yong; Roh, Si Gyun; Lee, Nae Ho; Yang, Kyung Moo

Abstract

PURPOSE: Owing to the improvement of microscope, microsurgery implements, and microsuture, finger replantation has made a considerable development. With high success rate of microsurgery in children, positive results have been reported from distal amputation. We report the patients demographics, methods, and results of the microsurgery performed in children in our hospital for the last 8 years.
METHODS
From the medical records of 21 patients who had given the treatment in our hospital from January 2000 to December 2007, we analyzed patients' sex, age, operative method, and complication retrospectively.
RESULTS
The number of male patients was twice as many as female, where most patients belong to the ages of five to ten years. Operative methods performed in this study included end-to-end anastomosis of artery and vein, vein graft, and epineurial suture. As a result, 19 out of 21 cases were successfully accomplished, and four of them went through the debridement of necrotic tissue due to the partial necrosis of the lesion. A one-year follow-up observation was made after surgery and most of them were almost fully recovered as in their previous state.
CONCLUSION
The success rate of finger replantaion in children is continuously improving despite the difficulty of vessel anastomotic procedure, rehabilitation treatment and management after surgery. We report the satisfactory results of pediatric finger replantation technically and aesthetically.