Regaining satisfactory digital function after flexor tendon laceration and repair
within the digit has long been one of the most difficult problems in hand surgery.
Until the 1960s it was universally recommended that tendons divided in the digit (then
referred to as “no man's land”) should not be repaired. Bunnell taught that “it is
better to remove the tendons entirely from the finger and graft in new tendons smooth
throughout its length.”
1
That dictum remained sacrosanct until the 1960s when reports by Verdan,
2
,
3
Kleinert et al,
4
and Kessler and Nissim
5
challenged the concept that flexor tendons should not be repaired primarily. These
investigators noted that when done correctly, immediate tendon suture would outperform
secondary free tendon grafting. Armed by those encouraging reports, there was a gradual
and cautious development of the concept and practice of primary flexor tendon repair.
Initially, primary tendon repair was often combined with anecdotal protocols by Duran
et al,
6
Lister et al,
7
and Strickland and Glogovac
8
for applying varying amounts of early post-repair motion to the repaired tendons.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
December 6,
1999
Received:
October 25,
1999
Footnotes
*No benefits in any form have been received or will be received from a commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article.
**Reprint requests: James W. Strickland, MD, Indiana Hand Center, 8501 Harcourt Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46280.
*0363-5023/00/25A02-0012$3.00/0
Identification
Copyright
© 2000 American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
