[The socio-economic costs of finger replantation. Apropos of 40 replantations of the thumb]

Abstract

Microsurgical techniques are becoming increasingly important in the emergency treatment of hand trauma and in secondary reconstructive surgery. In the light of the current concern with financial feasibility, we thought it important to determine whether this surgery, sometimes wrongly described as being luxury surgery, is economically feasible. The cost of 40 reimplantations and revascularisations of the thumb treated in the context of work accidents was studied. Although the short-term cost of reimplantation is higher than that of amputation, in the long-term, a successful reimplantation constitutes a definite economy for society and justifies this type of specialist surgery.