gms | German Medical Science

Objectives/Interrogation: To describe the case of a female patient with syndactyly of the index and thumb and its clinical repercussions and to contrast it with literature published

Methods: A literature review was made using Pubmed database between may to september 2018 using the key words Sindactyly, thumb, first commissural space, first digit, hand, thumb/physiology and English language restriction was used. Articles whose topic were syndactyly of the foot or acquired syndactyly were excluded. We searched for articles that included epidemiological data, physiology description of the thumb and index, emotional impact of the hand malformations and age and surgical technique indicated

Results and Conclusions: It was found that congenital syndactyly of the hand that compromises the first web space is the most infrequent and it has less female presentation. At functional aspect it generates inhability to make thumb opposition and thus grip objects, also it causes deformities mainly on the index finger, and all of these difficulties cause sometimes anxiety and frustration in patiets. The 12-month patient with syndactyly of the index and thumb presented the functional and emotional alterations found in the reviewed literature.

In the syndactyly of the hand and especially the one that compromises the digits at its edges, an adequate and timely surgical intervention is fundamental in order to avoid the functional and emotional consequences derived from this malformation.