Flashcards on Flexor Tendon Injuries of the Hand
Flexor Tendon Injuries of the Hand: A Student Guide
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Flexor tendon reconstruction overview & techniques
97 cards
Card 1
Question: When preserving the flexor sheath during reconstruction, what principle regarding resection is emphasized?
Answer: Minimize resection—preserve as much uninvolved flexor sheath as possible rather than removing it except for necessary areas (contrasting older teachin
Card 2
Question: Why must handling, pinching, or probing of tissues be minimized during flexor tendon reconstruction?
Answer: To reduce the risk of increasing the number and density of adhesions.
Card 3
Question: How much of the FDP distal stump is typically preserved during preparation for a graft?
Answer: Approximately 1 cm of the FDP stump is preserved distally.
Card 4
Question: If the injured FDP tendon is of poor quality, what tendon options can be used as the motor for the graft?
Answer: Use the transected FDS tendon of the injured digit, or alternatively the FDP tendon of an uninjured digit if both injured tendons are unsuitable.
Card 5
Question: What is done when both digital flexor tendons of an injured finger are nonfunctional?
Answer: The proximal FDS stump is pulled distally and transected to let it retract proximally; the distal FDS tendon is sharply excised leaving 1–2 cm of its
Card 6
Question: Why is 1–2 cm of the distal FDS insertion left intact when excising the distal FDS tendon?
Answer: Because it provides a more favorable posterior bed for the graft than a freshly operated, granulating area and may help prevent PIP hyperextension by
Card 7
Question: What should be done to the wound before harvesting the graft from the lower extremity?
Answer: Cover the wound with a moist dressing and, if harvesting from the lower extremity, release the tourniquet prior to harvest.
Card 8
Question: Name some devices used as passers to thread a tendon graft under the pulleys.
Answer: Flexible rubber catheter (pediatric feeding tube or red rubber catheter), flexible silicone tendon implant, or a Swanson disposable suture passer.
Card 9
Question: What precaution is emphasized when passing the graft beneath the pulleys?
Answer: Minimize trauma to the intact sheath while threading the graft.
Card 10
Question: What technique is preferred by the authors for distal juncture of the graft to bone or stump?
Answer: An “around-the-bone” technique to fasten sutures rather than passing sutures through bone and nail matrix; they find it less cumbersome and have not e