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BACKGROUND: Finger metacarpal fractures represent up to 31% of all hand fractures, and most can be treated nonoperatively. Whether operative treatment is superior to nonoperative treatment for oblique and/or spiral finger metacarpal shaft fractures (MSFs) is unknown. METHODS: Forty-two patients with displaced oblique and/or spiral finger MSFs were randomized to either nonoperative treatment with unrestricted mobilization or operative treatment with screw fixation. The primary outcome was grip strength in the injured hand compared with the uninjured hand at the 1-year follow-up. Secondary outcomes were the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand score, range of motion, metacarpal shortening, complications, sick leave duration, patient satisfaction, and costs. RESULTS: All patients attended the 1-year follow-up. Mean grip strength relative to that in the contralateral hand was 104% (95% confidence interval [CI], 89% to 120%) in the nonoperative group and 96% (95% CI, 89% to 103%) in the operative group (p = 0.34). Mean metacarpal shortening was 5.3 mm (95% CI, 4.2 to 6.4 mm) in the nonoperative group and 2.3 mm (95% CI, 0.8 to 3.9 mm) in the operative group. In the nonoperative group, 1 minor complication was observed; in the operative group, there were 4 minor complications and 3 reoperations. The costs were estimated at 1,347 U.S. dollars (USD) for nonoperative treatment compared with 3,834 USD for operative treatment. Sick leave duration was significantly shorter in the nonoperative group (12 days [95% CI, 5 to 21 days] versus 35 days [95% CI, 20 to 54 days]) (p = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: When treated with unrestricted mobilization, patients with a single displaced spiral and/or oblique finger MSF have outcomes comparable to those treated operatively, despite metacarpal shortening. Costs are substantially higher (2.8 times) and sick leave is significantly higher in the operative group. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Level II. See Instructions for Authors for a compl

Adhesions between the interosseous and lumbrical muscles involving the deep transverse metacarpal ligament (dTML) can be a cause of chronic pain and reduced range of motion. New reports on this condition are rare. We identified five patients experiencing pain, swelling and decreased range of motion in the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints during manual load. The condition was caused by a direct trauma. After not responding to conservative treatment, patients underwent surgery. Time between trauma and surgery was on average 16 months and the mean postoperative follow-up was 8 months. The lumbrical-interosseus junction was exposed by volar or dorsal incision, adhesions were widely released and the distal third of the dTML was resected. This resulted in normal passive excursion of the muscles and the tendon junction. At the mean follow-up time 8.2 months (3-18) after surgery, all patients were pain-free and had gained near normal range of motion in the MCP joints. Interosseous-lumbrical adhesions may be more common than reflected by the literature. Hand surgeons should keep this condition in mind in cases with chronic inter-metacarpal pain after trauma or infection. Surgical exploration is relatively straight forward and tends to lead to gratifying results. Level of Evidence: IV (therapeutic)

BackgroundThe aim of our study was to compare the long-term outcome after perichondrium transplantation and two-component surface replacement (SR) implants to the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) and the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints.MethodsWe evaluated 163 joints in 124 patients, divided into 138 SR implants in 102 patients and 25 perichondrium transplantations in 22 patients. Our primary outcome was any revision surgery of the index joint.ResultsThe median follow-up time was 6years (0-21) for the SR implants and 26years (1-37) for the perichondrium transplants. Median age at index surgery was 64years (24-82) for SR implants and 45years (18-61) for perichondium transplants. MCP joint survival was slightly better in the perichondrium group (86.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 69.4-100.0) than in the SR implant group (75%; CI 53.8-96.1), but not statistically significantly so (p=0.4). PIP joint survival was also slightly better in the perichondrium group (80%; CI 55-100) than in the SR implant group (74.7%; CI 66.6-82.7), but below the threshold of statistical significance (p=0.8).ConclusionIn conclusion, resurfacing of finger joints using transplanted perichondrium is a technique worth considering since the method has low revision rates in the medium term and compares favorable to SR implants.Level of evidenceIII (Therapeutic).

INTRODUCTION: Adhesions between the tendons to the interosseous muscles, the lumbrical muscles and occasionally the deep transverse metacarpal ligament can be symptomatic and cause chronic discomfort in the distal part of the hand. Reports about the condition are rare and the causal factors in previous publications are in principle limited to crush injuries and contusion from a direct blow to the hand. We present a case with typical clinic findings secondary to an infection after a cat bite. To the best of our knowledge symptomatic interosseus-lumbrical adhesions caused by an infection has never been described previously. CASE PRESENTATION: Our case report describes a 25-year-old Caucasian woman with chronic pain and swelling between her second and third metacarpal heads. Symptoms occurred especially under stress and developed secondary to an infection after a cat bite. Surgical exploration revealed localized adhesions between her second lumbrical muscle, her first palmar interosseous muscle and her deep transverse metacarpal ligament. The symptoms were completely relieved by surgical release of the adhesions, partial resection of the deep transverse metacarpal ligament and immediate postoperative physiotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians involved in hand surgery should be aware of the condition and look for it in patients complaining about distal intermetacarpal pain. The major causal factors for developing symptomatic interosseous-lumbrical adhesions are crush injuries or contusion to the distal part of the hand but it may also occur after an infection.

Two patients presented with intense pain in the shoulder followed by weakness and paralysis of muscles in the shoulder and arm, together with a peculiar swelling on the hand. The swelling seems to predispose to rupture of the extensor tendon. If this tumour is a regular finding in Parsonage-Turner syndrome, it may also help in making a definitive diagnosis.

PURPOSE: Based on previous evidence of muscle fiber injury and decreased blood flow in the extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB) muscle in lateral epicondylitis (LE), we hypothesized that there would also be an abnormal (vasoconstrictive) vascular response to adrenaline in the ECRB muscle in LE. METHODS: In a case-control study, we measured skeletal muscle blood flow in 8 patients with LE and in 8 healthy controls in response to a 30-minute intravenous infusion of adrenaline. We used local clearance of technetium-99m in the main portion of the ECRB muscle to calculate muscle blood flow. RESULTS: In support of the hypothesis, the blood flow response to the adrenaline infusion was markedly different in the 2 study groups. Whereas the continuous decrease in technetium-99m clearance rate over time was interrupted by the adrenaline-induced vasodilatory effect in the control group, we detected no such effect in the patient group. CONCLUSIONS: In the ECRB muscle in LE, there is a shift in the balance of vasodilatory and vasoconstrictory influences of adrenaline, leading to vasoconstriction during low-dose adrenaline infusion. The adverse adrenaline effect is similar to what was previously observed after minor muscle injury. Whether the vasoregulatory change, by causing relative muscle ischemia, represents the primary etiology in LE or results from muscle injury cannot be determined, but it is likely to contribute to the development and continuation of chronic muscle pain in LE. New ways of thinking about the condition may be required, and pharmacological treatment might be an option to improve the blood supply and avoid further damage to the affected ECRB muscle-tendon unit.

A variety of vasoregulatory systems are involved in the complex control of blood flow in human skeletal muscle. The interaction between these systems where one system can override or modify the other makes blood flow regulation complicated. Determinations of muscle blood flow can thus be challenging especially when considering the shortcomings and limitations of the available measurement methods. This thesis focuses on two different topics of which both are dependent on sympathetic tone. First, the common use of venous occlusion plethysmography (VOP) with only one strain gauge attached per limb is a method with obvious pitfalls. The inherent problems with this simplification of the original VOP method are highlighted in Study I-II where small variations in sympathetic tone and venous pressure proved to have a considerable influence on the results. The basic circumstance to this variability is the curvo-linear pressure/volume relationship in the veins and the fact that redistribution of blood can occur between individual limb segments. The results clearly demonstrate that events taking place under one strain gauge cannot be strictly duplicated in adjacent portions of the limb. Secondly, recent reports have indicated that a minor muscle trauma might change the local blood flow response to adrenaline. Two studies were conducted to test if an acute small muscle injury (Study III) and chronic muscle damage (Study IV) influences the normal blood flow effect of adrenaline. In support of the hypothesis we found that the microdialysis catheter-induced muscle injury in Study III caused a significant vasoconstriction during an i.v. adrenaline infusion, as measured with 133Xenon clearance next to the catheter, whereas no significant change in blood flow was seen with adrenaline-infusion in the absence of the catheter (conventional 133Xe administration). The adverse adrenaline effect is likely to be related to the degree of invasiveness. Hence, it would be expected that any type

Blood flow determinations by venous occlusion plethysmography applying the strain-gauge technique are frequently used. A problem with the strain-gauge technique is that the relationship between venous volume and transmural pressure is not linear and, furthermore, changes with the sympathetic tone. The present study tests the hypothesis that these factors lead to a redistribution of venous blood, which may impair the accuracy of the technique. The relative volume expansion rates of four leg segments were studied with the leg in different positions and at disparate temperatures, thereby inducing varying venous pressures and sympathetic tone ( n =6). With elevated leg and relaxed veins (at 50 degrees C), the distal thigh showed a relatively low expansion rate (25.8+/-4.5 ml.min(-1).l(-1)), whereas values in the calf segments were higher (34.5-39.0 ml.min(-1).l(-1)). With lower initial transmural pressure, calf segments can increase their volume much more during occlusion compared with the distal thigh. In a higher transmural pressure region (lowered leg), the difference in compliance between limb segments is less. In this case, compliance and volume expansion rate was higher in the distal thigh (14.2, 13.5 and 22.2 ml.min(-1).l(-1) at 10, 20 and 50 degrees C respectively) than in the calf segments (for the distal calf: 6.4, 7.7 and 16.2 ml.min(-1).l(-1) respectively). There was a significant interaction ( P <0.001) between temperature and leg position, indicating a higher degree of sympathetic vasoactivity in the calf. It is concluded that blood flow determination by strain-gauge plethysmography is less accurate, due to a potential redistribution of the venous blood. Therefore possible influences of variations in sympathetic tone and venous pressure must be considered even in intra-individual comparisons, especially in interventional studies.