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Pseudorotation of the Little Finger Metacarpal

From the Department of Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery, Lismore Base Hospital, New South Wales, Australia

Correspondence: Dr N.C. Smith, 9191 Garland Road Apt 227, Dallas, TX 75218, USA. E-mail: nicholas.Smith{at}tsrh.org

Fractures of the little finger metacarpal are common, and are often associated with significant soft-tissue swelling and the appearance of rotational malalignment when the fingers are flexed. Our hypothesis is that soft-tissue swelling causes this apparent rotational deformity of the flexed little finger. The fourth intermetacarpal spaces of three of the authors’ non-dominant hands were injected with saline. Following injection, all the hands exhibited the appearance of internal rotation of the little finger. The mean change in rotation was 16° and the maximum was 25°. There was no change in the plane of the nail plate in extension in any hand. We conclude that soft-tissue swelling can cause the appearance of internal rotation of the flexed little finger in the absence of fracture.

Key Words: rotation • metacarpal • fracture

Journal of Hand Surgery (British and European Volume), Vol. 28, No. 5, 395-398 (2003)
DOI: 10.1016/S0266-7681(03)00144-X


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