Replantation of total degloving of the hand: case report

This article reports a patient who had a total degloving of the hand, caused by a roller injury, up to the distal forearm level. The authors replanted the degloved skin using arteriovenous anastomosis of the radial artery at the wrist to the cephalic vein in the degloved skin in an end-to-side manner. To enhance the survival of the replanted skin, it was deepithelialized and buried in an abdominal pocket created specifically for this purpose. The replanted skin survived, except at the terminal portions of the fingers. The patient had reasonable function and cosmesis after the wound healed. The procedure may be used for the treatment of this rare injury to salvage a cosmetically acceptable and functional hand.