title: Classification of distal fingertip amputation based on the arterial system for replantation.
abstract: During replantation of distal fingertip amputation, identification of the artery is the most important but time consuming procedure. Depending on the damaged arterial structure, we classified distal fingertip amputations into 4 zones, on the basis of three dimensional concept. Zone 1 injury was defined as damage to the proximal central pulp artery; zone 2 injury, damage to the branch of the central pulp artery; zone 3 injury, damage to the distal central pulp artery; and zone 4 injury, no injury to the central pulp artery, injury only to the lateral pulp artery. From April 2010 to June 2011, 27 patients were evaluated. Successful replantation was observed in 21 patients. Skin necrosis occurred in six patients. For distal fingertip amputation classification based on the damaged arterial system is an easy method to find out the appropriate artery which should be anastomosed during replantation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Seoul Micro Hospital, 365-1 Dosun-dong Sungdong Gu Seoul, Seoul, 133-040 Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Chul
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Dhaka Mecal College, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Ahmed Suparno
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Bahar-Moni
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Seoul Micro Hospital, 365-1 Dosun-dong Sungdong Gu Seoul, Seoul, 133-040 Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Seoul Micro Hospital, 365-1 Dosun-dong Sungdong Gu Seoul, Seoul, 133-040 Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Soo
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Seoul Micro Hospital, 365-1 Dosun-dong Sungdong Gu Seoul, Seoul, 133-040 Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Sik
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Seoul Micro Hospital, 365-1 Dosun-dong Sungdong Gu Seoul, Seoul, 133-040 Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Cheon
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Ahn
keywords: Central pulp artery; Distal fingertip amputation; Replantation