In the best hands when your fingers hurt

Especially in the morning hours, your fingers feel stiff and you find it difficult to form a fist. Is it not unusual for your fingers to swell? Your hands and fingers are in constant use in everyday life. If pain, for example due to osteoarthritis, causes you problems, you feel helpless and frustrated. Almost every finger joint can be replaced with an artificial joint to restore the full function of the hand and relieve you of the pain. The prerequisite is that the tendons and ligaments are still intact. For Dr. Petra Scheffer, head physician for hand surgery, the patient's needs come first. She and her team specialize in highly complex anatomical structures in the smallest of spaces. Together with you, the specialists will discuss the individual advantages and disadvantages of a finger joint prosthesis for you.

Osteoarthritis in the fingers: prosthesis or fusion?

In the hand, a distinction is made between basic joints, middle joints and end joints, whereby the finger end joints are the only ones that cannot be replaced by an artificial joint. The basic prerequisite for finger joint replacement is that the ligaments and tendons that will later surround the artificial joint are still intact. This means that if individual fingers are already stiff, an artificial joint can no longer achieve better mobility. In this case, only a stiffening procedure can be considered. Our specialists will be happy to advise you on which treatment is suitable for you to alleviate your joint pain.

When rheumatism restricts the mobility of the fingers

In rheumatism patients, the metacarpophalangeal joints - which attach directly to the metacarpus - are often altered and cause pain in the hand or fingers. As the mobility of these joints is of great importance, stiffening them has major disadvantages for the patient. An artificial finger joint may make more sense here. The same applies to the middle joints.

How finger joint prostheses are operated on

Our hand surgery specialists mostly use Swanson prostheses to replace the metacarpophalangeal and metacarpophalangeal joints. In order to protect the nerves and blood vessels as much as possible, the approach during surgery is on the extensor side.

Fit again quickly after hand surgery

After implantation of the finger joint prosthesis, the finger is splinted for one to three days and then fixed to the non-operated finger for a further five to six weeks using a so-called carrier loop. This automatically moves the operated finger with it. After six weeks, the finger can usually be moved and loaded in everyday life without the strap. The specialists do not recommend full weight-bearing, especially sports and ball sports, until twelve weeks at the earliest.