Hand Surgery is surgery of the hand, the wrist, and the peripheral nerves of the upper limb. Human hands have the unique ability to perform multiple different activities of potentially incredible dexterity. There are a lot of things that can go wrong and affect the hand due to some conditions. These can include the joints, the soft tissues, and the bones of the hand. Hand surgeons are plastic or orthopaedic surgeons who have additional training in surgery of the hand.However, you need to visit the best plastic surgeon and hand specialist in Kolkata if you face any difficulty or deformity in your hands that need urgent treatment and care.
Many disorders and injuries of the hand are treated without surgery, using splints, injections and hand physiotherapy.
Dr Golash has done pioneering work in the field of hand surgery and has many firsts in this field in Eastern India. He is supported by a well-trained team of doctors and hand therapists.
He is often addressed as the best plastic surgeon and hand specialist in Kolkata.
Tendons are strong smooth cords that connect the muscles of the forearm to the bones in the wrist, fingers and thumb, which are responsible for the bending and straightening of fingers and thumbs.
Penetrating injuries with sharp objects are the most common cause of tendon injury and need careful evaluation and surgery by hand surgeons to restore hand function.
Nerves are like wire cables which transmit messages like commands to move from brain to hands and other body parts and carry messages like sensation from body parts to the brain.
When nerves get injured, it can lead to the loss of hand or wrist function, which takes a lot of time to recover. Early repair gives the best chance of recovery but depends upon the site of injury and its nature and age of the patient.
Hand fractures need special attention from an expert plastic surgeon and hand specialist in Kolkata in order to achieve the fracture union while maintaining hand function. Most hand fractures do not need surgery, but some will need fixation by surgery.
Fingertip injuries occur frequently in accidents at home or work. Some common types of finger injuries include fractures of the terminal phalanx, nail root avulsions, and subungual hematomas due to blunt or crush injuries to the fingernail.
Any part of the fingertip can be damaged by an injury or amputation, including the:
Most of these can be repaired successfully by a trained plastic surgeon and hand specialist in Kolkata to restore the shape and function.
An amputated finger or hand can be rejoined if the cut part is not badly damaged and preserved well during transportation.
If your finger or hand is completely cut off, do the following:
Fingers or thumb may be very short or missing due to congenital deformities or may be lost in accidents. In such cases, second toe or parts of the great toe can be transferred using microvascular techniques to reconstruct a missing thumb or fingers.
A network of nerves sends signals from the spinal cord to the shoulder, arm, and hand. This is known as brachial plexus. When these nerves are stretched, compressed, ripped apart, or torn away from the spinal cord, it is known as brachial plexus injury.
If the nerve compression is causing muscle weakness or damage in your hand, you may need plastic surgery performed by the best plastic surgeon.
In most cases, auto or motorcycle accidents result in severe brachial plexus injuries. It can leave your arm paralyzed void of any function and sensation. Nerve grafts, muscle transfers, or nerve transfers are some of the surgical procedures that can help restore function.
A condition that causes pain, numbness, and tingling in the hand and arm is known as carpal tunnel syndrome. The median nerve, one of the major nerves to the hand, when squeezed or compressed, the carpal tunnel syndrome occurs.
Most typical cases can be remedied easily with the help of wrist braces. But in case of a severe condition, you might need surgery.
One of the three main nerves of the arm is the ulnar nerve. It goes from the neck to your hand but can be constricted in some places like beneath the collarbone or at the wrist. When compression of this nerve occurs behind the inside part of the elbow, it is known as cubital tunnel syndrome.
Some common symptoms of this syndrome are numbness and tingling in the hand and fingers. Typically, these symptoms can be managed with the help of conservative treatments like changes in activities and bracing. If conservative methods do not improve your symptoms, or if the nerve compression is causing muscle weakness or damage in your hand, you may need surgery.
A painful condition in which tendons in the wrist gets affected is said to be De Quervain’s tenosynovitis. In this condition both the tendons around the base of the thumb become swollen. This, in turn, makes the sheaths or the casings covering the tendons inflamed, putting pressure on the nearby nerves, causing pain and numbness. Treatment in early stages by splinting, a local steroid injection can be effective. In severe cases, surgery is needed.
Also known as Stenosing Tenosynovitis, it is a condition that causes stiffness, pain, and a sensation of locking or catching when you bend and straighten your finger. It allows your finger to only bend or straighten with a snap just like when a trigger is pulled. The most affected fingers of this condition are the ring finger and the thumb, but other fingers may get affected too. It is treated by splintage, a steroid injection at the site of inflammation and surgery in recurrent cases.
An inflamed joint is known as arthritis. Different types of ‘arthritis’ include osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and gout which affects the hand. The most common is osteoarthritis which could be either genetic or post-traumatic. The joints that get most affected in a hand are the base of the thumb and the terminal joint of the finger.
A tumour is any type of abnormal lump or bumps which is also referred to as “mass”. If someone has a tumour, it does not mean that it is malignant or cancer. Rather, most hand tumours turn out to be benign or non-cancerous.
A tumour in the hand or the wrist is called a ganglion cyst. These are benign sacs of gelatinous fluid that form off of a joint or tendon sheath.
The second most common hand tumour is a giant cell tumour of the tendon sheath. These tumours are solid masses, unlike the fluid-filled ganglion cyst. They can occur in any of the place, where there is a nearby tendon sheath.
Another common tumour is known as epidermal inclusion cyst.
There are several other uncommon tumours too that are seen in the hand. They include lipomas(fatty tumours), neuromas, nerve sheath tumours, fibromas, and glomus tumours among others.
Some common conditions of congenital hand deformities are:
It can be caused by trauma, tendinitis, arthritis, or nerves compression. All these conditions will need careful evaluation. Treatment is recommended according to the cause.