Digital Reconstruction with Toe Transfer

Taek Keun Kwon

Copyright ⓒ 1995. Ewha Womans University School of Medicine. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Published Online: Jul 24, 2015

Abstract

Toe transplantation is a reliable and effective means of reconstruction for patients who havelost fingers or thumbs. Hand function is restored to a high degree because of the anatomic sinlilarities between the fingers and the toes. We have transplanted 11 great toes to the thumbsand 6 toes to the fingrs in 16 patients. There were no failures but exploration was performed in one patient due to arterial insufficiency.

The sensory recovery was excellent within 15mm of two point discrimination and range of motion was also sufficient enough, and in most case it was aesthetically acceptible. Fortunately the transplant is accomplished with relatively minimal donor site problems.

Keywords: Digital loss; Toe transfer