Arterialized venous toenail flaps for treating nail loss in the fingers

Abstract

Ten arterialized venous toenail flaps with two venous pedicles, one of which was anastomosed to a digital artery and the other to a dorsal vein of the finger, were used in nine patients to reconstruct nail loss due to trauma. Four flaps were taken from the lateral part of the big toe and six flaps from the second toe. Four toenail flaps with pulp and three flaps with the distal half of distal phalanx were used. Nine flaps survived completely and one had partial necrosis. All showed excellent aesthetic and functional results except for one case with minimal deformity in growth of the nail. The mean operating time was 2 hours.