Hand Necrosis

Loss of fingers represents an important aesthetic and functional handicap. Finger ischemia is a rare pathology but can have several different etiologies and needs to be closely managed to limit the extension of necrosis. The management of finger ischemia depends on the etiological factors and type of necrosis. This is why a close collaboration between the surgical and medical specialties is mandatory for limiting extension of necrosis and amputation of the fingers. When necrosis occurs and is delimiting, optimization of clinical assessment and conservative treatment often decreases the need of surgical shortening of the finger and can sometimes save some important functional parts of the hand. We will discuss in this chapter the way to diagnose and how to manage the digital necrosis.