Introduction: Traumatic amputations of the fingertip are a common injury, often encountered in the emergency department, resulting from work-related or domestic incidents, mainly blunt-force trauma or laceration with sharp objects. Many treatment strategies for such injuries exist without any one taking precedence.
Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a novel technique, which implements semi-occlusive foil dressings to treat such injuries.
Materials and Methods: Fifteen patients with distal fingertip injuries were treated with foil dressings and were followed up for 4 months. Bandages were changed weekly and no antibiotic treatment was prescribed to any of them. After the tip of the finger granulated, patients were given instructions to treat the area of intact skin with epithelializing unguents.
Results: The treatment regimen continued for 3–4 weeks, patients were able to get back to activity as early as 1–3 days after injury. Full use of the injured finger during treatment was advocated. After the treatment the pulp of the finger had normal shape, bulk, and size with full range of motion and regained sensitivity.
Conclusion: Fingertip amputations are injuries associated with the professional occupation or following domestic incidents, commonly presented in the emergency departments. Historically many treatment methods have been proposed. Our work presents a fast, simple, cheap, and effective treatment method, which is a safe alternative to flap plastic reconstructions. The duration of treatment was 3–4 weeks on average, depending on the severity of the injury, and resulted in a nearly complete restoration of sensitivity and an excellent cosmetic outcome.
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