Congenital Syndactyly of the Fingers : A Report of Two Cases

• Published in: Journal of Health and Allied Sciences NU Vol. 6; no. 1; pp. 082 - 084
• Main Authors: Shetty, Sanath Kumar, Hegde, Anoop, Mathias, Lawrence John, Rai, H. Ravindranath
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: A-12, Second Floor, Sector -2, NOIDA -201301, India Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Private Ltd 01.03.2016
• Subjects: Case Report; reperfusion abnormality; Apert's syndrome; Webbing; congenital hand anamoly
• ISSN: 2582-4287; 2582-4953
• DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1708624

Abstract Syndactyly is defined as the failure of separation of the digits during early gestation. It is one of the most common congenital anomalies. The incidence of syndactyly is uncertain, but estimates range from 1 in 2,500 live births. During development, the fingers are webbed. This remains so, until apoptosis and skin recession allow for formation of the digital interspaces. Full inter-digital spaces are usually present by the end of the 6th week of gestation. Here we present two patients and three hands who presented to us with syndactyly of the fingers. The first patient who was a 13 year old girl, had complete complex syndactyly between the ring and middle fingers of both hands. She underwent complete release with full thickness skin grafting in the first sitting. Six weeks later, she was reviewed and was noted to have developed scar contracture of the middle finger for which she underwent contracture release and z-plasty as a secondary procedure. In the final review at four months after the second surgery, the child was noted to have only terminal restriction of movements of the involved fingers of both hands with 'fair results' (as per the criteria of Cortez et al). The second patient was a two years old boy, who presented to us with incomplete simple syndactyly of the ring and index finger of the left hand. He was managed with percutaneous release of the syndactyly. He was reviewed after 4 months and there was full range of movement of the involved digits. He was also noted to have 'fair results' (as per the criteria of Cortez et al). As we had two different cases with a heterogenous presentation of two different types of syndactyly and who underwent different modalities of management, we are presenting it as an interesting case report in our article.