Background: Microsurgical replantation of fingertip amputation is sometimes difficult because of a lack of available vessels. Composite grafting is an alternative method for nonvascularized replantation, but it has a limited success rate. The subdermal pocket (SDP) procedure is proposed to increase the survival of composite graft.
Aim and objectives: We aimed to compare the success rate of the composite graft used in fingertip replantation with or without application of the SDP procedure.
Patients and methods: From 2000 to 2020, 29 fingertip amputations (28 complete amputations, 1 near-complete amputation) from 28 patients were included. Five of the fingertip amputations were classified as Ishikawa zone Ib and 24 as Ishikawa zone II. Seventeen fingers underwent replantation with composite graft plus SDP procedure, whereas the remaining 12 fingers received replantation with composite graft only.
Results: The overall success rate was 70.59% (12 of 17) in the SDP group and 41.67% (5 of 12) in the composite graft-only group ( P = 0.119; odds ratio, 3.36). In the subgroup of Ishikawa zone II fingertip amputations, the success rate was 66.67% (10 of 15) in the SDP group and 22.22% (2 of 9) in the composite graft-only group ( P = 0.035; odds ratio, 7.0).
Conclusions: The SDP procedure could increase the success rate of fingertip replantation with composite graft, especially for Ishikawa zone II amputations.
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