Upper extremity replantation: three-year experience

Microsurgery in Mexico was initiated in 1967, when the first report of the subspecialty was published. At our hospital, we have had a well-organized microsurgery department since 1995. This has improved our management of patients with amputations of the upper extremity. This article presents our experience with upper extremity replantation, including hand and fingers. During the first 3 years, we managed 55 patients, 42 male and 13 female, aged 2-52 years, who had suffered amputations of some part of their upper extremity or even of the complete limb. These patients underwent surgical exploration for replantation. We analyzed 103 amputations in the 55 patients operated. The amputated parts are summarized as follows: 11 thumbs, 25 index, 24 middle, 22 ring, and 12 little fingers; 5 hands, 5 forearms, and 2 arms. The average hospital stay was 10 days. The follow-up was 6-24 months. Replantation success was 82%, with 18% failure for survival of the replanted part. Functional recovery was satisfactory in the 50% of cases, and sensitive recovery was satisfactory in 75% of cases. We conclude that although our experience on upper extremity replantation is not so large, our results are similar to those from other series. We discussed our results.