Comparison of the clinical effects of reverse digital artery island flap and dorsal branch digital artery island flap on digital tip reconstruction: a single-center retrospective study

Background: This study aimed to compare the repairing effects of reverse digital artery island flap and dorsal branch digital artery island flap on fingertip defects. Methods: From January 2023 to January 2024, analyzed retrospectively clinical data of 41 patients with fingertip defects who underwent two kinds of surgery. There were 24 patients in the reverse digital artery island flap group and 17 patients in the dorsal branch digital artery island flap group. The size of the defect area of the affected finger, the range of motion (ROM) of the interphalangeal joint, the operation time, the hospital stay and the cold tolerance were evaluated and compared. Results: There was a significant difference between the reverse group and the dorsal branch group in the ROM of the proximal interphalangeal joint of the affected finger. The appearance of the affected finger was significantly better in the reverse group than in the dorsal branch group. There was no significant difference between the two groups in the area of defect of affected finger, ROM of distal interphalangeal joint, operation time, hospital stays, function of affected finger and cold tolerance of skin flap. Conclusions: Compared with the dorsal branch digital artery island flap, the reverse digital artery island flap can provide better hand appearance. However, in terms of proximal interphalangeal joint ROM , the effect of dorsal branch digital artery island flap is better than that of reverse digital artery island flap.