Hand surgeons are an integral part of the management team for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. There is now a greater understanding of the national utilization of rheumatoid hand surgery, which highlights the differences between hand surgeons and rheumatologists regarding the treatment of the rheumatoid hand. Advances in medical treatments have also decreased the prevalence of hand deformities caused by this disease. Hand surgeons today have less exposure to treating rheumatoid hand, but despite more effective medical options, surgery may still offer patients hope for improvement of hand function and appearance. This article will summarize the current state of rheumatoid hand surgery and discuss the surgical treatment strategies for optimizing outcomes for patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective After reading this article, the participant should be able to: 1. Recognize the clinical features associated with five common congenital hand conditions. 2. Describe the indications and appropriate timing for various surgical procedures used to treat congenital hand anomalies. 3. Identify the pearls and pitfalls of these surgical treatments in order to avoid complications. 4. Understand the expected post-operative outcomes associated with these surgical procedures. Summary This article will provide an introduction to congenital hand differences by focusing on practical surgical strategies for treating five commonly encountered conditions including syndactyly, constriction ring syndrome, duplicated thumb, hypoplastic thumb and trigger thumb. The accompanying videos will demonstrate common and reliable surgical techniques for syndactyly release, duplicated thumb reconstruction and pollicization for hypoplastic thumb.