Post burn flexion contracture of hand: a prospective study

Abstract

Background: Burn contracture of the hand can cause severe functional and psychological deprivement in patients. This study mainly concentrates on different types of hand deformity cases presenting to our department and the various options used to correct them. The postoperative functional outcome is also compared so that standardization of procedures can be done. This study assesses the severity of the deformity, the success of various reconstruction options and the functional outcomes of cosmetic procedures.Methods: This work includes the study of 60 patients who underwent reconstruction for post-burn flexion contracture of the hand including fingers, in the department of plastic surgery, Government Rajaji Hospital, Madurai. The patients were treated between September 2009 to February 2012.Results: Males were twice commonly affected by burn injuries and thermal burns were more common than electrical burns. The little finger was more frequently involved and contracture release followed by grafting was the commonly done reconstructive procedure. Complications like recurrence, residual contracture, partial graft loss and infection were noted.Conclusions: Contracture release by multiple Z–plasty with or without skin grafting was sufficient in most cases of contracture due to thermal burns. Flaps were required for reconstructing electrical burns. Complication rates are higher in children than in adults and postoperative physiotherapy and splinting is mandatory to achieve a better functional outcome.

Three Y-v Flap for Releasing of First Web Space Contracture of the Hand

“…Therefore, the same procedure was done for this patient, which was successful without flap necrosis and re-recurrence. This finding coincides with the results of Bai et al 2019 prospective study in India, which documented that electrical burns caused severe contracture with a high recurrence rate after release (26) . In Egypt, a clinical trial study was conducted by Mohamed et al 2022 on four groups of patients (n=29) with first web space contracture treated by different methods.…”