[Reconstruction of the hand with thin skin flap with preserved subdermal vascular rete]

Since Dec. 1991, we have used thin skin flaps to reconstruct hand with scar contractures of hand as a result of burn or trauma in 10 patients, including one with osteomyelitis of the proximal phalanx. The size of the skin flaps ranged from 8-18 x 4 x 7 cm. The shortest time of division of the pedicle was 7 days and the longest was 12 days, with a mean of 8. 7 days. The thin skin flap with preserved subdermal vascular rete was compared with free skin graft, also with preserved subdermal vascular rete, and conventional skin flap, and its advantages and shortcomings were discussed. The mechanism of survival after an early division of the pedicle was also discussed.