Desyndactyly: a literature review

An historical review of the literature dating from the early 1800s to the present reveals numerous methods that have been reported for the repair of syndactyly. This paper presents descriptions and diagrammatic illustrations of selected surgical procedures. Surgical intervention with the use of skin flaps to repair syndactyly almost always results in deficiency of skin. Either full thickness or porcine skin grafts to cover the adjacent sides of the desyndactylized digits generally should be used to avoid the postoperative complications inherent with the isolated use of skin flaps.