Introduction: In patients with a wide range of severe burns, the fingers and hands are often amputated to preserve life.
However, in younger patients, recovery of finger function should be considered in the chronic phase in order to improve the quality of rehabilitation after lifesaving. We report our concept and concrete surgical method of reconstructive treatment when the fingers are lost.
Case: We report two young patients with severe burns who have been treated at our hospital since their first presentation.
The first case was a 2-year-old girl who underwent first-finger reconstruction and thumb separation two years after injury. The second was a 23-year-old woman who underwent thumb reconstruction with a pedunculated abdominal wall flap and free iliac transplantation two years after injury.
Discussion: There are few reports of functional reconstruction for burn patients with total loss of the fingers from Japan or overseas. We thus investigated an approach similar to that for severe finger trauma and congenital finger defects. In general, priority is given to rebuilding the pinch function between the thumb and one of the opposing fingers or the opposing surface. Adductor pollicis function and interosseous muscle function are often preserved even in cases of burns in which the fingers are lost, and the issue is how to connect these residual functions to restore effective functions.
Summary: We reported a method unique to our hospital for functional reconstruction of the hand with a finger defect after severe general burns.
Even if it is a widespread burn, it must be properly managed from the acute stage, and even if the function of the fingers is lost in the chronic stage, it can be restored in a case-by-case basis using limited grafts. Reconstruction considering the function of the internal muscles of the hand is important.
View full abstract