Broken Pinky Finger - Post Surgery Stiffness

[imq]

I had surgery done on my broken pinky finger on January 1, 2008, which I broke while playing football, and I was in the cast for 6 weeks after that. After the cast came out, the doctor told me to go to therapy for 6 weeks/ 2 times a week to get rid of the stiffness in the finger. Now it is May 5th, 2008 and I have 2 more weeks of therapy left but still the finger is a little stiff. I can bend it but not fully and in terms of going back up it doesn't move at all.

The therapist has told me that doctor's could do another surgery to loosen up the tendons but I will wait to ask a doctor until my therapy is done.

The questions that I had is:

1) What are the chances that I can still gain full momentum in my pinky finger?
2) If I am not able to get the stiffness out, can anyone tell about the surgery the therapist was talking about?

Greatly appreciate your help.

Thanks

[brendon154]

I highly recommend the tendon release surgery, I was at a stale mate w/ my therapy after 1st surgery. my finger looked like it belonged to one of those weird amazon animals that use their fingers to pull bugs out of holes in tree trunks. Just a weird hook looking appendage I couldn’t do anything with and that was after 4 months of OT. I had tendon release and was back to 90% in a month.  recovery ***** but it's short, only like 2-3 weeks' time to recover and only the 1st week and a half really ***** due to the fresh incisions. once the incisions start to heal the therapy isn’t as bad (see my post from 2/29/2012 for better description of what to expect). my hand is back to functioning now, however it is still stiff in the morning and takes a little while to "warm up", it affects the fingers next to it too (my tendon release was on my middle finger). once things get warmed up, usually by the time I'm out of the shower in the morn I'm good to go. I have gnarly scars on both sides of my hand from palm to fingertip, my finger is crooked, doesn’t open all the way,  but it works well enough to do the things I love. Good luck to all,  your recovery really does depend on how much you put into it, stay positive.  

[nwa187]

I had my FDP tendon on pinky cut, due to a breakdown of communication from the hospital, I did not see a hand therapist till 2 weeks after which done me in terms of scar tissue.

Fast forward 4 months later I had tenolysis. It will be successful, you will get good movement but you may not be fully happy because the surgeon will probably do the minimal as possible to get back movement of the tendon like in my case, but the full movement will not be achieved because of previous scar tissue.

If they took out the scar tissue, and perhaps fixed the tendon, e.g. shave off the knot to make it smooth so it passes through the pullies with ease, it can be much better outcome. I will have to wait for a year and propose my idea to other surgeons to see what they can do.  

[mcdougaldjimmy504]

I have its was broke pretty bad and I late it heal and its starting to get in the way of me working and doin things so I need to go ahead and get it fixed straight back out its my pinky its its bent also I have no insurance surgery Im tryin to see if there is a hospital in jackson ms or gulfport ms or new orleans

[LouiseDoh]

Hi, thought I would post an update - timeline to date:

11/09/11 broke my left pinky finger at the proximal phalanges
22/09/11 had my op and 2 k-wires inserted and my arm and hand were then in a cast for 3 weeks
14/10/11 cast and k-wires removed, buddy tapped for another 3 weeks
04/11/11 buddy taping removed and confirmed the break had healed but now because of the build up of scar tissue I need physio to help get back the movement.

I have now has 6 months os OT and have regained 70% passive movement in both PIP and DIP. 25 % active movement in DIP but extremely limited active movement in PIP.

I have seen a hand surgeon who said he thinks the tendons are caught up in scar tissue and i'm going for an ultra-sound scan on 08/05/12 to find out more. I think it is likely they are going to suggest a second surgery to release the tendons.

Has anyone had the second surgery to release tethered tendons, and if so how successful has it been?

Many thanks, Louise

[tommyef]

Thanks to everyone for posting here.  This has been my new "support group."  I fractured my pinky in a cycling accident about a week and a half ago.  Surgery was one week ago today with a plate and 6 screws (hand got caught in the wheel and pinky broke my carbon fiber fork...which demolished my pinky).

The biggest thing I am taking away from this form is to start movement ASAP.  I was in a cast for a few days and now I have a removable splint which I only wear in instances where I feel I might bump my finger. I try to keep it off as much as possible and I am constantly challenging my pinky to move.  It has been one week and I am optimistic I will heal up...maybe not 100% back to normal but my goal is to get very close.  

I am already typing again with no problem which helps since my work is computer related.

I will try to update my progress in hopes of sharing information with others.  At this point I am still gunning for the best and not ruling out the release therapy.

My fracture was on my left proximal (pinky) and it was more of a shatter.  The break was in 5 places and they removed a lot of dead bone during the operation.  PIP flexibility is great right now...the gashes from stitches and the MCP seem like the challenge at this point.

[brendon154]

Get the 3rd surgery (tendon release surgery). Sounds like your only hope. Either that or retire and have a bum finger/hand for the rest of your life. It helped my situation and I had 3 pins in my hand for 6 weeks and an external fixator on for 8 weeks. My whole hand was locked up and w/ the help of the tendon release i got it working again.