Background: The reconstruction of metacarpal- and interphalangeal joints after severe hand injuries has been proven to be challenging. Commonly used procedures like arthrodesis, amputation or ray resection of the finger compromise the functionality of the injured finger. Especially for young patients, the restoration of all functions of the fingers is a priority. Local tissue transfers for finger joint reconstructions is not an option due to inacceptable donor site morbidity; microsurgical tissue transfers in terms of free toe joint transfers have proven to be a valuable method.
Methods: We present the case of a patient who suffered an excessive injury from a circular saw to his dominant hand. The MCP Joints of D2-D4 were fully destroyed, along with the PIP joint of a subtotally amputated D4. Arteries, nerves and tendons could be coapted directly, while primarily reconstructing of the finger joints was impossible. To ensure a possible regain of full functionality, two coherent joints, the MTP and the PIP of one toe, were transferred to the ring finger as a single transplant, reconstructing the MCP and the PIP joints of the injured finger in a one step procedure. Additionally the MCP joint of the D2 was reconstructed by the use of a free PIP-joint transfer, further the MCP joint of the D3 was replaced by an MCP endoprosthesis.
Results: After a follow up of 3 years the patient displayed full function of his dominant hand including sensitivity, and has gone back to manual work without limitations. The result was cosmetically acceptable and the donor site defect was easily being tolerated by the patient who is playing soccer in the regional soccer league.
Conclusion: Free double toe joint transfer has been proven feasible in this patient. While transferring a single toe joint to reconstruct a finger joint is a well-established method, our review of the latest literature showed no case of a free transfer of two coherent joints and three transplanted joints in one hand. The applied microsurgical technique should be considered by microsurgically trained hand surgeons for the treatment of comparable severe hand injuries. In comparison to the most common procedures described for the repair and reconstruction of severely injured finger joints this method showed superior results.
Keywords: Free vascularized toe joint transfer; PIP-MCP-Joint-Defect; coherent double toe joint transfer; complex hand surgery; microsurgery.