Palmar island flaps used to cover dorsolateral finger defects

Soft-tissue injuries of the hand are devastating injuries that may need coverage. Dorsal and/or lateral defects of the fingers with exposed tendon and/or bone are challenging obstacles in reconstructive hand surgery. There are several options for coverage of dorsal defects of the fingers, but all have shortcomings. A reliable 1-stage local flap to coverage the dorsolateral finger defects is needed. Anatomic study of Omokawa and their colleagues showed that palmar area is supplied by several perforators from the superficial palmar arch, and the common and proper digital arteries. The distal portion of the palm has numerous (range, 8 to 15) and large diameter (range, 0.1 to 0.5) perforators with good vascularity. Therefore, on the basis of this anatomic consideration, palmar island flap can be elevated. This flap is a simple, reliable, effective, and versatile flap which could be borne in mind as the best option to the hand surgeons treating soft-tissue defects of the hand.