This is a third case of an actual tendon repair surgery. This patient is a self-employed carpenter. He was carrying a mirror, which broke and cut all the tendons of his wrist plus the major nerve of the hand, the median nerve.
Here is a magnified view, with the median nerve and one tendon marked:
I met the patient in the emergency room and we quickly went to the operating room. The tendons and nerve were repaired:
Here is a magnified view:
The patient worked hard at therapy and sent me this email one year later:
"One year ago, almost to the hour, you put my wrist back together. I had a mirror cut all the flexor tendons and the median nerve. Here are photos of my hand today. The tendons are close to 100%. The scar tissue is still linking the digits together a little, but I have full motion otherwise. The nerve is creeping along and sensitivity in index and middle fingers is there but not perfect. I am thinking I will be almost back to normal in another year or so. Thanks for helping me out, the only lucky thing that day was that you were at the hospital. R. S."
The patient gets a lot of credit for the good result, because he worked very hard at therapy and then continued to work hard at home after therapy was finished.
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Remember the admonition from the Patient Education Links Page: the Internet has a lot of information, much of it incorrect. I have reviewed the sites that I have linked to, and have only linked to sites when I personally know the surgeon who posted it, or am a member of the organization that posted it. However, I may not agree with all that is on that site, and it may have changed since I reviewed it. If any of the information is not consistent with what I have told you, please download the material and bring it in.
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