title: Results of syndactyly release using a modification of the Flatt technique.
abstract: The results of 144 congenital syndactyly releases over a 12-year period by a single surgeon using a modified Flatt technique (dorsal hourglass flap, interdigitating zigzag flaps, and full-thickness skin grafts) are analyzed considering the association of skin grafts and web creep. The mean follow-up was 5 years. There were seven cases of graft failure, only one of which developed web creep. Web creep occurred in 4.2% of web releases. The results suggest that avoiding longitudinal straight-line scars across the web space may be an important factor in avoiding web creep when performing the modified Flatt technique described.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, UK tonybarabas@gmail.com.
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Barabás
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, UK.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pickford
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000601:surgery*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D012086:Reoperation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016038:Skin Transplantation; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000601:surgery*; D013536:Suture Techniques; D013576:Syndactyly / Q000601:surgery*
keywords: Syndactyly; failure; skin grafts; techniques; web creep