The Hand

An amputation is the removal, by accident or by surgery, of a body part. Amputations in the hand are commonly the result of a traumatic injury but may be the result of a planned operation to prevent the spread of disease in an infected finger or hand. Occasionally, traumatically-amputated fingers may be replanted (reattached). However, in many cases, reattachment of the amputated finger is not possible or advisable because a person may be more comfortable and have better function if the part is not reattached. This is due to risk that the reattached part could be chronically painful, stiff, and/or have an abnormal or absent feeling.

An animal bite to the hand is very common and can cause pain and other problems, especially when it becomes infected. Early and proper treatment is the key to prevent problems from an animal bite.

Splints and casts are supports that are used to protect injured bones and soft tissues. An arm cast completely encircles the limb with a hard, rigid outer shell. A splint provides rigid support along just a portion of the limb, with soft or open areas in between.

Replantation is the surgical reattachment of a finger, hand or arm that has been completely cut from a person’s body. The goal of this surgery is to give the patient back as much use of the injured area as possible.

A congenital hand difference is a birth defect involving a hand that is abnormal at birth. One in 20 children is born with this birth defect. These can be either major or minor. Some possible differences include missing parts (failure of formation), webbed or fused parts of the hand (failures of separation), extra parts in the hand (duplication), or parts that are larger or smaller than normal.

A Boutonniere deformity can happen for several reasons. It can happen from a cut of the tendon on the back of the finger or the thumb. It can also be due to tearing or weakening of the same tendon due to an injury or from a disease like rheumatoid arthritis.

A boxer’s fracture is a fracture (broken bone) of the hand. More specifically, it is a fracture of the neck of the fifth metacarpal (a bone in the “pinky finger"). It is referred to as a boxer’s fracture because, most commonly, it occurs when people punch something.

The brachial plexus is a group of nerves that come from the spinal cord in the neck and travel down the arm. These nerves control the muscles of the shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand, as well as provide feeling in the arm.

Finger tip injuries are one of the more common injuries in the hand. The finger tips are exposed in many of our activities.

The bones of the hand serve as a framework. This framework supports the muscles that make the wrist and fingers move. When one of these hand bones is broken (fractured), it can prevent you from using the hand, wrist and fingers.