Abstract
There is no gold standard for the treatment of post-traumatic ankylosis of finger proximal interphalangeal ( PIP ) joints. We report the outcomes of vascularized 2nd-toe-PIP-joint transfers to the finger PIP joints. We performed a retrospective review of our patients who met the following criteria : ( 1 ) post-traumatic injuries of finger PIP joints with an arch of motion of no more than 10 degrees, ( 2 ) adult patients, ( 3 ) a PIP joint of the 2nd toe as a donor, and ( 4 ) more than one year of postoperative follow-up. A total of 7 joints of 7 male patients are included in this study. The mean age of the patients at the time of surgery was 26 years ( range : 16 to 42 ) and the mean postoperative follow-up period was 17 months ( range : 12 to 24 ). The mean postoperative active range of motion of the transferred joints was 71° ( range : 45 to 85 ) in flexion and −24° ( range : −50 to −10 ) in extension. No osteoarthritic change was found in any transplanted joint at the latest follow-up. Vascularized 2nd-toe-joint transfer is one of the optimal options for reconstruction of post-traumatic ankylosis of finger PIP joints in adult patients.
