When is Tendon Repair Surgery Necessary?
The first step to determining whether tendon repair surgery is needed from Specialty Surgical Center’s hand surgery partners is locating the source of the damage. In the hand, there are two classes of tendons called extensor tendons and flexor tendons. Extensor tendons allow you to stretch out your fingers and thumbs to make them straight. Flexor tendons do the opposite and are responsible for allowing you to curl your fingers and thumb so you can grab. Both stem from the forearm and connect your hand muscles to your bone.
Tendon damage due to rheumatoid arthritis, sports injury, or being crushed may result in pain and limited range of motion in the fingers. However, surgery is not always the answer to treating tendon damage. If a physician determines that the tendon is only partially torn, the patient may only need to wear a splint and receive physical therapy treatment.
In most cases, surgery is required to repair tendons in the hand. When a tendon is ripped from the bone or the muscle, it usually cannot repair itself because the ends have ripped so far apart. After an injury, surgery should be sought right away in order to gain back as much range of motion as possible. Even though flexor tendon surgery is more complex and complicated than extensor surgery, both procedures are outpatient and should be a relatively quick surgery.
Whether the patient requires tendon repair surgery or not, our team highly recommends rehabilitation during the healing process. Your surgeon will be able to give you a more exact time frame, but patients may need to wear a splint post-operatively for a few weeks. After surgery or a partial tear, the damaged tendon could attach to other tissues in the hand and limit the range of motion of the fingers. Your surgeon may either teach you some exercises to increase your range of motion, or refer you to a physical therapist that can work with you more extensively. The amount of time needed to recover from a tendon injury depends on how many hours the patient spends doing rehabilitation exercises and wearing the splint.
Specialty Surgical Center is located in Sparta, New Jersey and our staff consists of board certified surgeons and anesthesiologists performing procedures in Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Spinal Care, Podiatry, Urology, Pain Management, ENT, Hand Surgery, Lithotripsy, Brachytherapy, GYN and Laser Surgery.
For more information about Specialty Surgical Center, call 973-940-3166 or visit our Contact Page.