Conservative treatment of mallet thumb

doi:10.1016/S0363-5023(86)80100-9

The Journal of Hand Surgery

Volume 11, Issue 1, January 1986, Pages 45-47

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-5023(86)80100-9 Get rights and content

Four cases of mallet thumb were treated conservatively by splinting the interphalangeal joint of the thumb in extension using the Stack splint. Two patients had sharply cut the extensor tendon on the dorsum of the proximal phalanx and two had avulsion of the extensor tendon from the base of the distal phalanx. Eight weeks of continuous splinting was followed by 2 weeks of night splinting. Six months of follow-up revealed excellent range of motion in all four cases.

References (6)

GP Crawford
The molded polythene splint for mallet finger deformities
J Hand Surg
(1984)
WL Lovett et al.
Management and rehabilitation of extensor tendon injuries
Orthop Clin North Am
(1983)
HG Stack
Mallet finger
Hand
(1969)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (21)

Extensor Tendon Injuries in the Athlete
2020, Clinics in Sports Medicine
Citation Excerpt :
More proximal tendon problems are typically related to rupture, attenuation of the extensor compartments, or tendon irritation. Overuse tendinopathies comprise 25% to 50% of athletic injuries72 and commonly occur in racquet sports, rowing, volleyball, and gymnastics.73 Forceful grasping and repetitive ulnar deviation predispose many fly fishermen, golfers, and tennis players to tenosynovitis of the first dorsal compartment, the most common sports-related extensor tendinitis.74
Closed mallet thumb injury: Our experience of 10 patients treated with surgery and a systematic review
2016, Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery
Citation Excerpt :
As some individual patient information lacked full descriptions of the requisite data, 12 patients were deemed ineligible for our review. Our study reported totally 26 patients with closed mallet thumb.3–21 Patients were categorized into two groups: the surgically treated group (16 patients) and the conservatively treated group (10 patients).
This retrospective study reports 10 patients with closed mallet thumb injury treated with surgery and compares the clinical outcomes achieved with those of previously described patients who were treated with either conservative therapy or surgery.
We report the outcomes of a series of 10 patients who received surgical treatment at our institutions. Due to the rarity of closed mallet thumb, a systematic review was conducted, and the results of a literature search were compared with our case series to strengthen our conclusions. The previously described patients were categorized into two groups: the surgically treated group (16 patients) and the conservatively treated group (10 patients). The following patient and injury characteristics were documented: age, gender, injured side, time from injury to treatment, mechanism of injury, extension lag at first visit, postoperative range of motion (ROM) of the interphalangeal joint, immobilization period, and follow-up period.
Statistical analyses showed no significant differences in the clinical results, except for shorter immobilization periods between our series and the previously described patients involving conservative treatment (4.9 ± 0.9 vs. 9.5 ± 2.3 weeks, respectively; P = 0.0053).
This study suggests that surgery may result in more rapid recovery.
Mallet thumb
2013, Journal of Hand Surgery
Citation Excerpt :
The authors advocated operative treatment for all mallet thumb injuries based on the following: (1) There were no reports of successful nonsurgical treatment of a mallet thumb injury; (2) the extensor pollicis longus (EPL) tendon is thick and holds sutures well; and (3) a large gap resulting from retraction of the proximal end of the EPL occurs, which suggests that nonsurgical treatment would not result in a satisfactory outcome. In 1986, 4 articles regarding mallet thumb were published.2–5 Patel et al2 published a series of 4 cases of mallet thumb (2 open tendon lacerations at the level of the proximal phalanx and 2 closed tendon avulsions), all of which were successfully treated with a Stack splint (Link America, Hanover, NJ), immobilizing only the IP joint.
Acute and chronic mallet finger
2008, Journal de Traumatologie du Sport
Hand Injuries
2006, Clinical Sports Medicine
Splints acting on the thumb
2005, Hand and Upper Extremity Splinting

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Conservative treatment of mallet thumb

J Hand Surg

Orthop Clin North Am

Hand