Alternative techniques for restoration of bony segments in digital replantation

We present our experience from 108 partially or totally amputated digits in 87 patients which were replanted or revascularized successfully by the Orthopaedic Microsurgical Team at the University of Ioannina Medical School in Greece, during the period from 1978 to 1994. The majority of the patients were men involved in occupational accidents. Bone shortening always preceded the osteosynthesis and the vessel anastomosis, and most of the available methods for osteosynthesis were used, including small plates, single lag screws, crossed Kirschner wires, a combination of intraosseus cerclage wires and Kirschner wires, and intramedullary Kirschner wires. Our findings suggest that the most appropriate method for bone fixation in digital replantation is the insertion of one intramedullary Kirschner wire, supplemented by another wire which is inserted at the end of the procedure. This technique was found superior for the following reasons: 1) it's simplicity and the speed of the technique reduced the ischemic time; (2) less bone exposure was required; (3) less skeletal mass was needed for fixation; and (4) prior to the insertion of the second Kirschner wire, rotation of the replanted part was possible if it was necessary to re-align the vessels or to correct any rotational deformity.