Secondary Linburg-Comstock syndrome post-trapeziectomy surgery

Abstract

Linburg-Comstock syndrome is an acquired symptomatic restrictive thumb index finger flexor tenosynovitis involving a hypertrophic tenosynovium between flexor pollicis longus and flexor digitorum profundus. Patients may report synkinetic movement of the thumb and index finger, pain and swelling. We present the case of a woman in her 80s who presented with painless Linburg-Comstock syndrome after a trapeziectomy 4 months earlier for trapeziometacarpal arthritis. A literature review of PubMed-indexed case reports found that Linburg-Comstock syndrome has never been described in a post-trapeziectomy patient. This unusual presentation that arose as a side effect of hand surgery remains unreported in the literature. We present this unique complication as the first such case in the world. This case report is a valuable addition to the existing knowledge on the complications of trapeziectomy surgery.