Two clinical cases of the reconstruction of distal phalanges of hand in children by combination of the regional flap and scrap bone and nailbed graft

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The hand and its distal phalanges, especially in children, are among areas mostly exposed to trauma while contacting the environment. Injuries causing loss of soft tissue and bone component are both challenging and interesting. This report presents the treatment results of children with soft tissue and bone defects of distal phalanges, in which reconstructions including combination of regional flaps, bone, and nailbed grafts were performed. CLINICAL CASE: This report presents clinical cases of the surgical treatment of 4- and 6-year-old children with fingertip injuries who underwent reconstructions including the combination of regional flaps, bone, and nailbed grafts. A combination of the scrap graft was performed in the first case with antegrade homodigital island flap and in the second case with thenar flap. The results were assessed 6 and 7 months after surgery. DISCUSSION: The primary aim of the surgical treatment of children with distal phalangeal defects is coverage of those defects. The restoration of the bone component of the defect is recommended to prevent postoperative deformations of the distal phalanges. Fingertip replantation or microsurgical transplantation of vascularized tissue complexes are technically difficult and require thorough care and monitoring of the childs condition in the postoperative period as all these measures may fail. CONCLUSIONS: The possibility to combine the scrap bone and nailbed graft with existing reliable surgical methods open new prospects for the successful treatment of fingertip injuries.