gms | German Medical Science

Objectives/Interrogation: Fingertip amputation injuries are common with treatment of these injuries by conservative or surgical means, where there has been increasing interest in treatment via conservative techniques. Also, these relatively small injuries also result in a high economic burden due to loss of productivity and disability.

The aim of this study is to demonstrate the outcomes of three different treatment options for fingertip amputation injuries and quantify the economic burden of such injuries in relation to the different treatment modalities.

Methods: This is a combined retrospective and prospective study of patients who received treatment for fingertip amputation injuries at a tertiary hospital in Singapore. These injuries are defined as distal to the distal interphalangeal joint.

In the retrospective arm, 30 case-matched patients received treatment for their injuries from January 2015 to July 2018 were analysed according to the following treatment modalities - semiocclusive dressing and splint cap, tutoplasty or locoregional flap coverage. There were 10 patients in each group.

In the prospective arm, purposeful sampling was used to randomly assign patients to receive treatment to either semiocclusive dressing and splint cap, tutoplasty or locoregional flap coverage.

The clinical and functional outcomes of these treatment modalities were examined and compared. Demographic data, occupation and cost of treatment were also collected and an estimation of economic costs was performed.

Results and Conclusions: Initial results revealed that patients who received tutoplasty took a longer time to heal, while patients who received locoregional flap coverage healed faster. Functional outcomes showed no statistical difference between all three groups.

Despite these clinical outcomes, there were no statistical difference in return to work amongst all three groups. Even though healing was faster in the surgical intervention group, however the costs of treatment was higher. The economic burden remained high for all three groups.

Deeper analysis will be presented.

In conclusion, fingertip injuries are common and although the outcomes are generally acceptable, these injuries result in significant economic burden. Semi occlusive dressing and splint cap is a treatment modality that can potentially reduce healthcare costs and time to return to work.