A pregnant patient sustained a near complete degloving injury to her left thumb during the end of her third trimester. Surgical revascularization was successfully performed. Ten days after revascularization, the patient was induced into labour with oxytocin. Four hours after delivery, she experienced ischemic pain in the revascularized thumb, with subsequent failure and necrosis of the digit. The vasoactive properties of oxytocin are discussed, in particular, its role as a vasoconstrictor. The importance of sustaining adequate blood flow to newly revascularized tissue is stressed, as well as the need to be cautious when using vasoconstrictive agents during microvascular surgery.
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