Applied anatomy of dorsal hand flap with direct cutaneous artery arising from dorsal metacarpal artery as pedicle and double rotation points

Objective: To design a new cutaneous artery island flap. Methods: 20 arms of fresh adult cadavers were studied by five-time microscope. Red latex was perfused into the radial artery to show the anatomical characteristics of the dorsal hand tissues on artery, vena, nerve, tendon and the blood supply of the skin. Results: The cutaneous dorsal metacarpal artery paralleled to the dorsal metacarpal artery. It derived from the dorsal vascular network and lined to the dorsal metacarpal artery near the crotch of the digit. The routine and branches were invariableness. Conclusion: The cutaneous dorsal metacarpal artery can be designed as pedicle of the island flap with the double rotation points to repair the soft tissues loss of the wrist, hand and digit.