Tendon Injuries of the Hand in Kirikkale, Turkey

BACKGROUND Tendon injuries are one of the most common injuries of the hand and challenging problems in trauma surgery. They usually require surgical repair and unlike the single tendon injuries, flexor tendon injuries have higher morbidities when accompanied with nerve injuries. In the present study, I aimed to report the clinical experiences and outcomes about tendon injuries. METHODS A total of 180 patients (149 males, 31 females) between 17 and 56 years old were operated in the clinic due to tendon injury. Seventy isolated extensor tendon injuries, 60 isolated flexor tendon injuries, 30 multiple flexor tendon and major nerve injuries, 18 combined extensor and flexor tendon injuries, and 2 combined extensor, flexor and major nerve injuries were treated. All patients were admitted to the clinic in acute phase and operated immediately. Physiotherapy was started in the third day of the operation. RESULTS Patients were followed up between 6 and 18 months (mean 12.4 months). There was not any major complications except one female patient (0.5%) who did not conform to the treatment protocol after flexor tendon injury. Fifteen patients (8.5%) had poor flexor range of motion. The other patients were healed uneventfully. CONCLUSION Tendon healing may cause some complications from mild to severe degrees. However, atraumatic surgery and a comprehensive postoperative early physiotherapy could decrease these complication rates.