Effectiveness of Perioperative Finger Sensory Rehabilitation in Patients Undergoing Fingertip Amputation and Reimplantation: A Retrospective Study
Authors: Gao Shibo , Yang Chao 
Published: January 2025

AIM: Finger reimplantation is an effective method for the treatment of amputated fingertips. However, there are several shortcomings in traditional postoperative rehabilitation programs, which may affect a patient's functional recovery after surgery. Finger sensory rehabilitation is a comprehensive program that helps patients restore sensory and motor function to their fingers through the use of specific training methods and equipment. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the effect of finger sensory rehabilitation on a group of patients who had undergone fingertip amputation and reimplantation.
METHODS: The medical records of 106 patients having undergone fingertip amputation and reimplantation from January 2022 to January 2024 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were classified into experimental group (n = 52, receiving conventional rehabilitation training + finger sensory rehabilitation training) and the control group (n = 54, receiving only conventional rehabilitation training). Patients in both groups participated in a 20-week rehabilitation training, and the Semmes-Weinstein monofilament test was used to evaluate the finger touch pressure sensation after completing the rehabilitation training in both groups, and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score, Generic Quality of Life Inventory-74 (GQOLI-74) score to evaluate their pain sensation and quality of life on the 2nd postoperative day and at the end of rehabilitation training.
RESULTS: After completing rehabilitation, a specialized method for assessing the patient's tactile sensory deficits was used, showing that the number of cases with light tactile hypoesthesia to single-fiber sensation in the reimplanted fingertips was higher in the experimental group than in the control group (p < 0.01), while there was no significant difference in the number of cases of protective hypoesthesia between the two groups (p > 0.05), the number of cases of protective sensory loss was significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group (p < 0.01). There was no significant difference in the pain scores and comfort scores between the two groups before management (p > 0.05). However, the pain level of the two groups after management was significantly lower than that before management (p < 0.01), whereas the post-management comfort scores of both groups were significantly higher than that before management (p < 0.001). The experimental group's degree of improvement was significantly higher than that of the control group (p < 0.001). The pre-management GQOLI-74 scores were not significantly different between the groups (p > 0.05), whereas after management, the experimental group outperformed the control group in all dimensions of the scores, except in thinking ability (p < 0.01). Although not statistically significant (p > 0.05), the total perioperative complication rate of the experimental group was lower than that of the control group.
CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of finger sensory rehabilitation training is effective for restoring tactile function, reducing pain levels, and improving quality of life among patients who had undergone fingertip amputation and reimplantation. This finding can inform the development and selection of subsequent rehabilitation programs.