Fingertip Amputation Treatment: A Survey Study

Results

One hundred ninety-eight responses were recorded. Of the 1054 AAHS members invited to take the survey, 174 (US, international) responded (17% response rate). One hundred twenty-three responses and 62% of the total were generated from US hand surgeons. Fifty-eight percent of US responses were from the Mid-South, Midwest, or Mid-Atlantic region. Fifty-seven percent of international responses were from Brazil and Europe. Respondents’ demographic data are listed in Tables 1 and 2.

Responses to the 5 clinical scenarios showed a wide variation in treatment preferences. The top 6 preferred treatment selections for an acute, clean long-finger amputation in a healthy 40-year-old office worker are shown in Figures 1 to 5. When surgeons who preferred replant were asked what they would do if the amputated part was not available, they indicated flap coverage more often than less complex treatments, such as skeletal shortening/primary closure or wound care.

There were statistically significant differences in treatment preferences between US and international hand surgeons when controlling for all other demographic variables. Adjusted ORs and their confidence intervals (CIs) for the aggregate clinical scenarios are presented in a forest plot in Figure 6. Figure 4 shows that US surgeons were more likely to choose wound care (OR, 3.6; P < .0004) and less likely to attempt a replant (OR, 0.01; P < .0001). US surgeons were also less likely to use a pedicle or homodigital island flap when the amputated fingertip was both available (OR, 0.04; P = .039) and unavailable (OR, 0.47; Ps = .029).

Among all respondents and across all clinical scenarios, skeletal shortening with closure was favored among hand surgeons in practice less than 5 years compared with those in practice longer (OR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.36-3.25; P = .0008). Similarly, surgeons with more than 30 years of experience were the least likely to favor wound care (OR, 0.2; 95% CI, 0.09-0.93; P = .037). Compared with orthopedic surgeons, plastic surgeons opted for wound care less often (OR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.23-0.98; P = .018) and appeared to prefer replantation, but the difference was not statistically significant (OR, 8.86; 95% CI, 0.99-79.61; P = .054).

Replantation was less often chosen by private practice versus full-time academic surgeons (OR, 0.09; 95% CI, 0.01-0.91; P = .041.) Part-time academics were no more or less likely to perform replantation than full-time academics were (OR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.05-5.41; P = .58). Of the 59 respondents who performed more than 10 microvascular cases a year, 18 (31%) chose replant for Allen level 4 amputations. In comparison, 9 (20%) of the 45 respondents who performed fewer than 3 microvascular cases a year chose replant for amputations at this level. Amount of time working with fellows did not affect treatment preferences.

Patient demographics (age, sex, occupation) also played a role in treatment decisions (Table 3). The most significant factors appeared to be age and occupation. Regarding age, 41% of respondents chose more complex procedures for patients younger than 15, and 62% chose less complex procedures for patients older than 70 years. Regarding occupation, 61% chose more complex procedures for professional musicians, and 60% chose less complex procedures for manual laborers. Sex did not influence clinical decisions for 78% of respondents. There was also substantial variation in both the indications for germinal matrix ablation and the frequency of sterile matrix transplant (Table 3).

Discussion

Although there is a variety of treatment options and published treatment guidelines for distal fingertip amputations, few comparative studies support use of one treatment over another. In our experience, treatment decisions are based mainly on injury parameters, but surgeon preference and patient factors (age, sex, occupation) can also influence care. Our goal in this study was to better understand how surgeon and patient factors influence treatment preferences for distal fingertip amputations among a cross section of US and international hand surgeons. Our survey results showed lack of consensus among hand surgeons and highlighted several trends.

As expected, we found a wide range of treatment preferences for each clinical scenario queried, ranging from more simple treatments (eg, wound care) to more complex ones (eg, replantation). With patient parameters (age, profession, finger, acuity, injury type, tissue preservation, smoking status) standardized in the clinical scenarios, the treatment differences noted should reflect surgeon preference. However, other patient factors (eg, cultural differences, religious beliefs, surgeon setting, practice pattern, resource availability) that were not included in the clinical scenarios could also affect treatment preferences.