In order to introduce a novel reversed digital artery island flap, it was used in 13 cases involving 17 digital skin defects since 1993, in which digital skin defects were covered by a reversed digital artery island flap, a comparative study was made between the flaps with or without a palmar digital vein. The results showed that the 17 island flaps were all survived, and during the early stage after operation, the incidence of venous crisis in the flaps without palmar digital vein was 87.5% (7/8) while that in the flaps with the vein was only 11.1% (1/9), so, it was concluded that the reversed digital artery island flap containing a palmar digital vein could obviously reduce the incidence of venous crisis and improve the survival of the flap.
