Outcome of traction tenolysis in open trigger finger release--a retrospective review

Hand Surg. 2013;18(3):375-9. doi: 10.1142/S0218810413500421.

Abstract

Surgical treatment for trigger finger involves division of the A1 pulley. Some surgeons perform an additional step of traction tenolysis by sequentially bringing the flexor digitorum superficialis and flexor digitorum profundus tendons out of the wound gently with a Ragnell retractor. There is currently no study which states whether flexor tendon traction tenolysis should be routinely performed or not. The objective of this study is to compare the outcome in patients who have traction tenolysis performed (A group) versus those who did not have traction tenolysis (B group) performed. It was noted that even though the mean total active motion (TAM) for the B group in our study was lower preoperatively, it was consistently higher than the A group in all the 3 post-operative visits demonstrating a better outcome in the B group. Even though it was not statistically significant, our data also showed that patients with traction tenolysis appeared to have more postoperative pain compared to those without.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Female
  • Finger Joint / physiopathology
  • Finger Joint / surgery*
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Range of Motion, Articular
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Tendons / surgery*
  • Traction / methods*
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Trigger Finger Disorder / physiopathology
  • Trigger Finger Disorder / surgery*
  • Young Adult