This paper describes a simple method of classification and evaluation of the functional results of replanted and revascularized parts in the hand. The results are presented in graphic form and have been analyzed to correlate various factors: injured part, cause, and zone (level) of injury. The type of injury, ischemic time and age have been studied in more detail to determine their influence of the final functional result. The series contains 187 amputated and devascularized parts of the hand in 119 patients who have undergone surgery at the Prince of Wales Hospital from 1984 through 1988. The length of cold or warm ischemic times, up to 16 hours in this series, while not affecting survival of the amputated part, does adversely affect the functional result. The survival rate of replanted parts in children was significantly less favorable than in adults, but the functional results were uniformly superior.

There is some evidence that postoperative deep vein thrombosis (DVT) may be commoner in cool than in warm climates. To determine whether this complication is less common in the subtropical climate of Brisbane than in more temperate locations, the incidence of DVT after major abdominal surgery was assessed by 125I fibrinogen scanning. In order to avoid overestimating the incidence of DVT, abnormal scans were accepted as diagnostic only if the DVT was confirmed by venography or if the abnormality on the scan fulfilled more stringent criteria than have previously been applied. Thirty-six of 152 patients (24 per cent) developed a DVT; this incidence was significantly lower than in one previous study from Melbourne and higher than that found in South-East Asia and East Africa, but was not significantly different from that reported from Sydney, Japan and several centres in North America and Britain. There was no apparent seasonal variation in the incidence of the complication. The geographical variation in incidence of postoperative DVT may have been overestimated in previous reports and may be at least partly due to variations in screening technique.

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