title: Sensibility of finger fillet flaps on late follow-up evaluation.
abstract: Though the use of fillet flaps salvaged from damaged digits is a well-established technique to obtain soft tissue coverage for the badly injured hand, the sensibility of these flaps has not been evaluated. We examined a series of four patients who underwent digital fillet flaps following hand trauma. Static two-point discrimination measurements of the injured hand and the contralateral hand showed that all four patients retained sensibility in the fillet flap that was equal to or better than the intact skin surrounding the flap. In some cases, the sensibility of the flap was equal to the sensibility in the corresponding contralateral fingertips. No patients had complaints regarding the function of their fillet flaps as sensate coverage of major soft tissue defects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey 17033, USA.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Koegel
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Banducci
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kahler
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Hauck
authors.forename: E K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Manders
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005383:Finger Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006230:Hand Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012677:Sensation / Q000502:physiology*; D012867:Skin / Q000294:innervation; D017695:Soft Tissue Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors