[Microsurgical aspects of wound healing in the extremities (author's transl)]

Microsurgical operative technique made it possible to restore the arterial and venous blood flow or to improve it, even for a relatively small tissue area, and to re-innervate these fabrics. Reconstruction of lymphatic drainage is technically possible, but quite a number of problems remain to be solved before further clinical application is possible. Grafting of a microvascularly pedunculated bone chip is superior to the bone chip without primary vascularisation, but will offer advantages over grafting of spongiosa in very rare cases only. At the present moment it is not yet possible to safely assess the influence exercised by re-innervation on wound healing.