Muhammad Rafique Sabir, Zulfiqar Bobak, Abdul Rehman Khan, Memmona Mumtaz.
Survival of first dorsal metacarpal artery flap for soft tissue coverage in hand defects.
J Pak Orthop Assoc Jan ;24(2):57-61.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of survival of first dorsal metacarpal artery flap for soft tissue coverage in patients with hand defects. Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted in 2009 at the department of orthopaedics,Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur. Study Design: Case series Material and Methods :A total of 45 consecutive cases having soft tissue defects of dorsum or tip of thumb , of either gender and age above 12 and below 60 were included in the study. Data collected included Name ,age ,sex, registration number, address, date of admission, operation and ,discharge and follow up of patient regarding survival and non survival of flap. Results: Majority of the patients 40%(n=18) were recorded between 21-30 year of age 24.44%(n=11) were found in 13-40 years while only 2.23(n=1) was found in 51-60 years of age The mean age was recorded as 30.38 with 10.4s.S.D. male were 71.11% (n=32) while females were 28.89%(n=13) with soft hand defects .The mechanism of injury of the patients included in the research work, majority of the patients 51.11%(n=5) were resulted from electric burns,6.67(n=3)were recorded with burn complictions and only 4.44%(n=2) developed soft tissue hand defects due to fight.Ninty three percent (n=42) found with complete survival of the flap while only 6.67%(n=3) had no survival. Conclusion: First dorsal meta carpal artery flap has a constant anatomy and easy dissection. It has low donor site morbidity. It shows good functional and aesthetic results and it can be performed for soft tissue coverage in hand defects( dorsum or tip of thumb)by experienced surgeons for better results and is recommended to cover the soft tissue defects of the hand( dorsum or tip of thumb).

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com