Rheumatoid Arthritis Support

hand surgery deals with both surgical and non-surgical treatment of conditions and problems that may take place in the hand or upper extremity (commonly from the tip of the hand to the shoulder). Hand surgery may be practiced by graduates of general surgery, orthopedic surgery and plastic surgery. Plastic surgeons and orthopedic surgeons receive significant training in hand surgery during their residency training, with some graduates continuing on to do an additional one year hand fellowship. These fellowships are sometimes also pursued by general surgeons. Plastic surgeons are particularly well suited to handle traumatic hand and digit amputations that require a "replant" operation. Orthopedic surgeons are trained to reconstruct all aspects to salvage the appendage: tendons, muscle, bone. Orthopedic surgeons are particularly well suited to handle complex fractures of the hand and injuries to the carpal bones that alter the mechanics of the wrist.

In a few countries such as Sweden, Finland and Singapore, Hand Surgery is recognized as a clinical specialty in its own right with a formal four to six years hand surgery resident training program. Hand surgeons going through these programs are trained in all aspects of hand surgery, combining and mastering all the skills traditionally associated with "Orthopedic hand surgeons" and "Plastic hand surgeons" to become equally adept at handling tendon, ligament and bone injuries as well as microsurgical reconstruction such as reattachment of severed parts or free tissue transfers and transplants.

Hand surgeons perform a wide variety of operations such as fracture repairs, releases, transfer and repairs of tendons and reconstruction of injuries, rheumatoid deformities and congenital defects. They also perform microsurgical reattachment of amputated digits and limbs, microsurgical reconstruction of soft tissues and bone, nerve reconstruction, and surgery to improve function in paralysed upper limbs.


Adapted from the Wikipedia article Hand surgery, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki