Hand Surgery
Hand Surgery
A ganglion is a spheroid tight-elastic evagination originating from the joint capsule or the tendon sheath in the area of the hand or fingers. They are not tumours in the conventional sense (neoformation and proliferation of cells), but cysts filled with fluid. Malignant degenerations do not occur, but ganglions can be painful and perceived as very distracting in your daily work. The surgical treatment consists in the removal of the ganglion. Operations on ganglia on the fingers can be performed under local anaesthesia, wrist ganglia are operated under general anaesthesia.
Other core areas of hand surgery (trigger finger, carpal tunnel syndrome, Dupuytren's contracture)...
A Trigger Finger (so-called Tendovaginitis stenosans) is when a “snapping” or “snagging” of a finger occurs when bending or opening the hand. The disease is caused by a thickened flexor tendon, which can no longer slide freely through the ring ligament in the base joint of the finger (A1 ring ligament). The surgical treatment consists of the splitting of the A1 ring ligament through a small cut in the area of the palm of the hand. Ring ligament splitting can be performed under local anaesthesia as well as general anaesthesia.
The Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is characterised by the occurrence of pain in the area of the hand, especially at night, discomfort in the area of the thumb, index and middle finger, weakness in the grip and reduction of the sense of touch, all of which might result in an increasing clumsiness. If the conservative treatment with a night splint is not successful, the channel in which the affected nerve runs (so-called median nerve) can be widened by the splitting of a transverse band. The procedure is usually performed under general anaesthesia, but can also be done under a local anaesthesia of the median nerve (using a so-called median nerve block).
A Dupuytren’s Contracture is a benign disorder of the connective tissue of the middle of the palm (palmar aponeurosis). Cords and knots occur at the palmar aponeurosis and this might lead to restriction of movement in the area of the finger base- and middle joints (flexion contracture). The surgical treatment consists of the removal of the affected connective tissue under general anaesthesia.