Congenital Deformities

Correction of Congenital Deformities

Congenital anomalies are deformities of the hand that are present at birth. Hand deformities can be particularly disabling when the child learns to interact with the surroundings through the use of his or her hands. The degree of deformity can vary from a minor deformity, such as unequal length of fingers, to a severe deformity, such as total absence of a long forearm bone.

Early consultation with a Hand Plastic surgeon is a very important part of the treatment process for any child born with a hand deformity. Surgical treatments are usually planned and performed within the first 2 years of life. Advantages include the full potential for growth, development, and for normal functioning; less scarring; and reduced psychological problems. Disadvantages of early surgery are technical difficulties and possibility of increased anaesthetic risk. Most surgeons do these surgeries when the child is about 2 years of age, but no later than when the patient enters school.

Syndactyly is the most common congenital hand anomaly, occurring in approximately one in every 3000 live births. In this condition the fingers are stuck to one another, with no web space between the fingers Syndactyly is regarded as complete when the fingers are fused all the way to the tip including the nail folds; incomplete when the nail folds are free. The treatment objective for syndactyly is to create a normal web space to improve the function and appearance of each finger. Surgical separation of fingers is performed between 12-18 months of age.

Birth deformities of hands like webbed fingers, bent fingers, short digits, extra digits are all corrected surgically at Suvarna Aesthetics. These surgeries are done from the age of 6 months onwards. Some of these surgeries will require multiple stages.