The effect of two surgery methods of finger repair (Palmar graft and V-Y plasty) on the improvement of two-point discrimination

Abstract

Background: Fingertip injury is the one of the most common hand injuries that its healing is important because of the essential role of fingertips in sensory and motor function. The most important part of sensory healing is to obtain two-point discrimination. The common surgical methods of fingertip repair are V-Y plasty and palmar graft. But, there is not enough study on comparing the efficacy of two methods. The aim of this study was to compare the rate of sensory improvement in these two surgical methods. Methods: In a cohort study, 70 patients with fingertip injury who were operated via V-Y plasty method compared with 70 patients operated via palmar graft method. Two-point discrimination was applied scale for evaluation of improvement at the end of 3 and 6 months after taking the surgery. The comparison between the two groups was done using SPSS software. Findings: 3 months after the surgery, tow-point discrimination was less than 5 in 2 patients of V-Y pasty (6.7) and in 10 patients of palmar graft (14.7); according to Fisher’s exact test, no statistically difference between the two groups were seen (P = 0.28). 6 months after the surgery, the improvement of two-point discrimination in V-Y plasty 22 patients (36.7%) was statistically better than palmar graft 12 patients (17.6%) (P = 0.04). Conclusion: Applying of V-Y plasty in the treatment of fingertip injury, at least in two-point discrimination, is better than the palmar graft method. In addition, the duration time of surgery, hospital cost and post-operative complication in the V-Y plasty method is less than the palmar graft. © 2015, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences(IUMS). All rights reserved.