Color monitoring after replantation

The recognition of postmicrosurgical minute skin color changes is an important element in assessing vascular insufficiency that has traditionally relied on a skilled microsurgeon's subjective clinical impression. This study investigates the use of a color monitor for the objective quantitative evaluation of such skin color changes. Twenty-two replanted digits were monitored postmicrosurgically with a color meter while deep skin temperature recordings, an established method of postmicrosurgical monitoring, were taken simultaneously. The results showed that the digits' clinical courses, namely, "uneventful," "necrosis," "congestion," and "acute arterial obstruction," showed characteristic patterns of postmicrosurgical circulation that were reflected in skin color change measurements. The reliability of the color measurements was confirmed by the deep skin temperature recordings. This study suggests that skin color after microsurgery can be evaluated quantitatively with the proposed color monitoring system and that this system is useful for the diagnosis of postmicrosurgical vascular insufficiency.