The arterial system of the first intermetatarsal space and its influence in toe-to-hand transfer: a report of 53 long-pedicle transfers.

A study of the arterial system in the first intermetatarsal space was performed during 53 toe-to-hand or vascularized tissue of the toe transfers with long arterial pedicles. The first dorsal metatarsal artery was used as a single pedicle in 25 transfers and the first plantar metatarsal artery in 21: both arteries were taken simultaneously in seven transfers. In 11 transfers, the dorsalis pedis artery and the perforating branch were absent, although this did not exclude the presence of a first dorsal metatarsal artery which arose from the plantar system by means of an ascending vascular branch in seven cases. Copyright 2002 The British Society for Surgery of the Hand.