Second-Toe Transfer in Post-traumatic Thumb Reconstruction

Abstract

Second-toe to thumb or finger transfer was first used in a pedicled fashion by Nicoladoni ina 5-year-old boy.31With this technique, the hand remained attached to the foot for severalweeks. Current microsurgery techniques allow a more elegant, one-step reconstruction. Thefirst historical microsurgical transfer was a great-toe to thumb transfer by Cobbett in 1969,2an operation based on the pioneering work of Harry Buncke.1The second-toe to thumbtransfer soon followed and is now more popular owing to its advantages at the donor site.Since then, many technical refinements with partial toe transfer have allowed us to fine-tunethe indications for thumb reconstruction.