[Repair of soft tissue defect at finger tip with square island flap pedicled with skin perforator of digital artery on the distal interphalangeal joint].

Objective: To investigate the repair of soft tissue defect at finger tip with square island flap pedicled with skin perforator of digital artery on the distal interphalangeal joint (DIP).

Methods: From Jun. 2009 to Mar. 2010, 15 cases with soft tissue defects at 15 fingers tip were treated with this island flaps. The flap size ranged from 1.2 cm x 0.8 cm to 2. 0 cm x 3.0 cm. The defects at donor sites were covered with skin grafts from forearm.

Results: All the flaps and skin grafts survived. 10 fingers in 10 cases were followed up for 6-12 months. The color, texture and contour of the flaps were good. The two-point discrimination distance was 5-6 mm on the directed island flaps, and 7-10 mm on the reverse island flaps. No obvious functional problem was found in DIP motion. The hand function was assessed as excellent in 8 fingers, good in 1 finger and medium in 1 finger.

Conclusions: The main artery and nerve will not be sacrificed when the island flap is used. The operative procedures are easily performed for the treatment of fingertip skin defect.