The anatomy of the digitopalmar arches

Abstract

The arterial supply to the flexor tendons of the fingers was studied by means of angiography, by the injection of coloured latex, and by microdissection. It was established that there were no anastomoses between the intra-osseous circulation and that of the synovial sheath. Two separate sources of blood supply to the sheath were found: the digitopalmar arches and the specific arteries of the sheath. The findings indicate that the ideal location for incision into the digital sheath is in the midline of the palmar surface. The flexor tendons within the sheath are supplied only by branches of the digitopalmar arches. Considerable differences were observed in the details of blood supply of the tendon of flexor superficialis and that of flexor profundus.

The Reverse Digital Artery Island Flap: An Update

“…[3][4][5][6] In particular, abundant vascular communications in the pulp of the distal phalanx exist, and these communications enabled the reverse digital artery island flap with more distally skeletonized pedicle to gain its retrograde blood supply without any trouble. However, in cases with soft-tissue injuries invading proximally beyond the center of the fingerprint, we stop the digital artery dissection approximately 5 mm proximal to the digital interphalangeal joint as in the previous publication, because we are not confident of achieving sufficient arterial anastomoses.…”

Soft-Tissue Coverage of the Hand

“…11). The anatomic locations of the three digitopalmar arches have been studied 70 : they are typically located at the level of the proximal cruciate ligament (C1), distal cruciate ligament (C3), and immediately distal to the profundus insertion. 71 The main advantages of this flap are the ability to perform reconstruction in a single stage, without sacrificing tissue from additional fingers or remote structures.…”

Le lambeau en îlot homodigital à contre-courant : à propos de 28 cas

“…Ces anastomoses ont été décrites pour la première fois par Brockis [4,5], puis Edwards [6]. L'arche anastomotique proximale se trouve immédiatement avant l'articulation interphalangienne proximale, la moyenne avant l'interphalangienne distale en regard de la tête de la deuxième phalange, et la distale en aval de l'interphalangienne distale et forme l'arche pulpaire [7].…”