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Research Article| Volume 13, ISSUE 4, P612-615, July 1988

Excision of the hook of the hamate: A retrospective survey and review of the literature

  • Purcell Smith III
    Affiliations
    From the Piano Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Center, Inc., the Division of Hand Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Florida Medical Center, Gainesville, Fla., USA
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  • Thomas W. Wright
    Affiliations
    From the Piano Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Center, Inc., the Division of Hand Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Florida Medical Center, Gainesville, Fla., USA
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  • Paul F. Wallace
    Affiliations
    From the Piano Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Center, Inc., the Division of Hand Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Florida Medical Center, Gainesville, Fla., USA
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  • Paul C. Dell
    Correspondence
    Reprint requests: Paul C. Dell, MD, Division of Hand Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Florida Medical Center, Gainesville, FL 32610.
    Affiliations
    From the Piano Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Center, Inc., the Division of Hand Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Florida Medical Center, Gainesville, Fla., USA
    Search for articles by this author
      This paper is only available as a PDF. To read, Please Download here.
      Fractures of the hook of the hamate frequently fail to unite. In symptomatic nonunion, surgical excision of the hook has provided relief of pain in the few reported cases. In a survey of surgeons, 133 cases of excision of the hook to treat nonunion were reviewed retrospectively. The complication rate associated with excision is three percent. These complications, such as injury to the ulnar nerve or the superficial palmar arch and median nerve paresthesias secondary to retraction are due more to the surgical exposure than the actual excision.
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