Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Journal of Hand Surgery (British and European Volume)
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by KULKARNI, M.
Right arrow Articles by ELLIOT, D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by KULKARNI, M.
Right arrow Articles by ELLIOT, D.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Articles

The Significance of Extensor Tendon Tethering and Dorsal Joint Capsule Tightening After Injury to the Hand

M. KULKARNI
S. B. HARRIS
D. ELLIOT

From the St. Andrew’s Centre for Plastic Surgery, Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, Essex, UK

Correspondence: Mr D. Elliot MA, FRCS, St. Andrew’s Centre for Plastic Surgery, Broomfield Hospital, Court Road, Broomfield, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 7ET, UK. Tel.: +44 1621 857 362; fax: +44 1621 841 127. E-mail: info{at}david-elliot.co.uk

This paper examines the clinical problem of extensor tendon tethering and/or dorsal joint capsule tightening secondary to hand injury. One hundred and forty-one patients were examined 13 to 51 months after hand injuries of varying severity. Fifty-six patients (40%) had suffered simple and eighty-five patients (60%) complex injuries. Seventy-four (52%) of the 141 patients had no extensor tendon tethering and/or dorsal joint capsule tightening. In 30 (21%), the extensor tendon tethering and/or dorsal joint capsule tightening was considered to be "obvious" in that it was easily seen on examination using various commonly used clinical tests of finger flexion and extension. In 37 (26%), the extensor tendon tethering and/or dorsal joint capsule tightening was considered to be of "lesser degree" because it was only evident on application of specific tests which are described in this paper. Of the 37, 21 (56%) described themselves as being unable to make a "proper" fist with the injured hand, 33 (89%) had pain or discomfort on the dorsum of the injured hand and/or fingers on gripping (P < 0.01) and 25 (70%) had weakness of power of gripping (P < 0.01). Thirty-two (87%) complained of functional problems at work, with activities of daily living or with the pursuit of their hobbies.

Key Words: hand oedema • extensor tendor tethering/adhesion

Journal of Hand Surgery (British and European Volume), Vol. 31, No. 1, 52-60 (2006)
DOI: 10.1016/J.JHSB.2005.09.023
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J Hand Surg Eur VolHome page
Y. CAO, C. H. CHEN, Y. F. WU, X. F. XU, R. G. XIE, and J. B. TANG
Digital Oedema, Adhesion Formation and Resistance to Digital Motion after Primary Flexor Tendon Repair
J Hand Surg Eur Vol., December 1, 2008; 33(6): 745 - 752.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]