Pyrolytic carbon hemiarthroplasty in the management of proximal interphalangeal joint arthritis.

Purpose: To review clinical, subjective, and radiographic results of pyrocarbon hemiarthroplasty for proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint arthritis.

Methods: A total of 42 fingers in 38 patients underwent PIP joint hemiarthroplasty between 2005 and 2011. Preoperative diagnoses included 28 with osteoarthritis or posttraumatic arthritis and 10 with inflammatory arthritis.

Identification of three novel FGF16 mutations in X-linked recessive fusion of the fourth and fifth metacarpals and possible correlation with heart disease.

Nonsense mutations in FGF16 have recently been linked to X-linked recessive hand malformations with fusion between the fourth and the fifth metacarpals and hypoplasia of the fifth digit (MF4; MIM#309630). The purpose of this study was to perform careful clinical phenotyping and to define molecular mechanisms behind X-linked recessive MF4 in three unrelated families. We performed whole-exome sequencing, and identified three novel mutations in FGF16.

A qualitative study of coping in the early stage of acute traumatic hand injury.

Twenty patients with acute traumatic hand injury were interviewed 8-20 days after the day of the accident. The aim of the study was to identify coping strategies, defined as thoughts or actions used by the hand-injured patients to manage stress factors and resulting emotions in the early stage. Stress factors were reported in an earlier study.

Patient-controlled regional analgesia (PCRA) at home: controlled comparison between bupivacaine and ropivacaine brachial plexus analgesia.

Background: The aim of this randomized, double-blinded study was to compare the analgesic efficacy of bupivacaine versus ropivacaine brachial plexus analgesia after ambulatory hand surgery. An additional aim was to study the feasibility and safety of patient-controlled regional analgesia (PCRA) outside the hospital.

Methods: Sixty patients scheduled for ambulatory hand surgery underwent surgery with axillary plexus blockade.