Broken finger?
What are the causes of a broken finger?
Fractures of the thumb and long fingers can occur equally during sports, manual labor, or recreational accidents.
How is a broken finger treated?
If the finger is broken, it is particularly important to recognize and correct rotational deformities. If the bone heals in a misaligned position, it leads to a disturbed structure of the broken finger and its adjacent fingers. In severe cases, the gripping function of the entire hand can be severely impaired.
Finger fractures are either fixed by screws, splinted with wires, or stabilized with tiny titanium plates.
If it is a fracture with joint impaction, the fracture should be corrected if there is a step-off of 1-2 mm or more. For this, the joint is elevated and fixed with a specially bent wire.
Metacarpal fracture
What are the causes of a metacarpal fracture?
Metacarpal fractures frequently occur from a fall onto a closed hand or fist, as well as in boxing sports. The fracture of the 5th metacarpal is called a “boxer’s fracture”.
Special attention must be paid to fractures of the first, second, and fifth metacarpals, as these bones are particularly important for the stability and movement of the hand.
How is a metacarpal fracture treated?
Metacarpal Base Fracture Surgery
If fractures with significant angulation, shortening, or rotational deformity are present, they should always be corrected. To hold the fractures in position, small titanium plates are used, or the bone is splinted internally with K-wires.
At the base of the first metacarpal, dislocation fractures of the thumb carpometacarpal joint occur. There are three special types (Bennett fracture, Rolando fracture, Winterstein fracture) which, in cases of fragment displacement, must be surgically corrected, as otherwise, rapidly developing post-traumatic arthritis is to be expected.
