In recent years, the venous flap has been highly regarded in microsurgical and reconstructive surgeries, especially in the reconstruction of hand and digit injuries. It is easily designed and harvested with good quality. It is thin and pliable, without the need of sacrificing a major artery at the donor site, and has no limitation on the donor site. It can be transferred not only as a pure skin flap, but also as a composite flap including tendons and nerves as well as vein grafts. All these advantages make it an optimal candidate for hand and digit reconstruction when conventional flaps are limited or unavailable. In this article, we review its classifications and the selection of donor sites, update its clinical applications, and summarize its indications for all types of venous flaps in hand and digit reconstruction.

In our series, 15 patients underwent 21 procedures for wide resection of axillary hidradenitis with coverage by posteriorly based Limberg transposition flaps. Twenty flaps (95%) healed without axillary contracture. One failed flap required skin graft coverage. Transposition flap coverage in these patients was a reliable, single-stage reconstruction allowing prompt arm movement.

Our results indicate that post-con procedure effectively reduces I/R injury and improves the survival of muscle flaps after ischemia. The consistent expression of VEGF in a high level may play an important role in the physiological effects of post-con.