| Issue |
SICOT-J
Volume 4, 2018
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Article Number | 9 | |
| Number of page(s) | 5 | |
| Section | Wrist & Hand | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/sicotj/2018004 | |
| Published online | 16 March 2018 | |
Case Report
Digital replantation in forward surgical units: a cases study
1
Department of orthopedic traumatology reconstructive surgery, Percy Military Hospital,
Clamart, France
2
Department of surgery, French Military Medical Academy, Ecole du Val-de-Grâce,
Paris, France
3
Hand surgery unit, Saint-Roch private clinic,
Toulon, France
4
Department of orthopedic surgery and traumatology, Laveran Military Hospital,
Marseille, France
5
Department of thoracic surgery, Percy Military Hospital,
Clamart, France
* Corresponding author: laurent_tom2@yahoo.fr
Received:
30
September
2017
Accepted:
29
December
2017
Introduction: Noncombat-related hand injuries are common in current theatres of operations. Crushing is one of the most frequent mechanisms that may cause traumatic amputations of digits. In the military setting, management of these digital amputations is challenging regarding limitation in microsurgical means in medical treatment facilities and aeromedical evacuation delays out of the combat zone.
Methods: Two cases of digital replantation performed in French forward surgical units are described. The first case was a complete distal amputation of the medius which was successfully replanted in the operating theatre of an aircraft carrier. No complication was observed after evacuation. Functional and aesthetic results were excellent. The second case was a ring finger avulsion revascularized in a role 2 facility in Central African Republic. Unfortunately, revascularization failed due to arterial thrombosis during evacuation.
Results: Digital, hand or more proximal upper extremity replantation may be considered for isolated amputations due to work-related accidents within the combat zone. For a surgeon trained to microsurgery, a microsurgical set and magnification loupes enable to attempt such procedures in austere conditions.
Discussion: The authors propose an algorithm of management in the field according to the type and level of amputation.
Key words: Austere environment / Digital amputation / Microsurgery / Military / Replantation
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2018
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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