Donor finger morbidity in cross-finger flaps

We reviewed 16 patients who had cross-finger flap procedures carried out be tween 1991 and 1996 at the West Midlands Regional centre for Plastic and Re constructive Surgery. We looked specifically at the donor finger morbidity of each patient with a median follow up interval of 43 months. At follow up there were 10 patients with cold intolerance, eight patients w ith subjective joint stiffness and a documented reduced range of finger joi nt movement. Skin graft reconstruction of the secondary defect was associat ed with poor colour match in eight cases (seven hyperpigmented, one hypopig mented) and visible contour deformity in eight cases. There were no clinica lly significant differences between split skin graft or full thickness skin graft for donor finger reconstruction. Although cross-finger flaps may provide soft tissue cover in a variety of f inger pulp injuries, these results show an alarming incidence of donor fing er morbidity associated with such procedures. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd . All rights reserved.