PLASTIC AND RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY, vol.100, no.4, pp.914-918, 1997 (SCI-Expanded)
Soft-tissue reconstruction of the hand still remains a challenge for plastic and reconstructive surgeons. Several flaps have been described to cover soft-tissue defects of the digits and the hand. In the first web region, there are some communications between the intermediate artery arising from the dorsal blanch of the radial artery and the volar arteries of the thumb and the index finger. Depending on these communications, a new distally based nap is raised fr om the first dorsal intermetacarpal area. This flap has been used to cover various defects of the thumb in four patients and the distal radial side of the palmar area in one patient. Donor sites have been closed primarily except in one patient.