[Treatment of soft tissue defects at the dorsum of hand by retrograde island neurocutaneous flap pedicled with lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve].
OBJECTIVE
To report the therapeutic effect of retrograde island neurocutaneous flap pedicled with lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve for the treatment of soft tissue defect at the dorsum of hand.


METHODS
11 cases with soft tissue defects at the dorsum of hands were treated. The size of soft tissue defects ranged from 3.0 cm x 2.5 cm to 6.5 cm x 4.0 cm. The size of the flaps ranged from 3.5 cm x 3. 0 cm to 7. 0 cm x 4. 0 cm.


RESULTS
All the 11 flaps survived. The follow-up period was 2 months to 2 years. The texture and elasticity of the flaps were good. The appearance and function of the hands were satisfactory. The superficial sense was recovered. The wounds at the donor site of forearms were closed primarily in 7 cases, or covered by split-thickness skin grafts in other 4 cases. The appearance of the donor site was satisfactory too.


CONCLUSIONS
The retrograde island neurovascular flap pedicled with lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve is an optimal method for soft tissue defects at the dorsum of hand.
Department of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery of the Affiliated Petroleum Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Langfang 065000, China.
Jie
J
Qi
Wen
W
Li
Yan-Jie
YJ
Liu
Wei-Hai
WH
Su
Li-Jian
LJ
Lin
Jian-hong
JH
Liang
Yao
Y
Liu
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005542:Forearm / Q000601:surgery; D006230:Hand Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016038:Skin Transplantation; D017695:Soft Tissue Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000098:blood supply / Q000294:innervation; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult