PubMed · 8345283
The source did not provide an abstract. Follow the original record for more information.
Explore connections, maps & timelines
N Benatar. 1993. Claw-finger correction.. https://doi.org/10.1016/0266-7681(93)90084-s
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.
KEEP EXPLORING
An incision is described in which the two ends of an elliptical excision are displaced. This can be used in two situations; in the reduction in length of one side of a digit and in the excision of two lesions close together.
Hand surgeons presented with a hand or finger laceration and an abnormal static two-point discrimination (> or =10 mm) must determine which patients require surgical exploration. There appears to be a paucity of data in the literature defining the incidence and nature of neurapraxia in this setting. A study was conducted in a busy urban practice to better understand this problem. To determine the incidence of intact nerves (i.e., neurapraxia) in digital nerve injury patients, the authors reviewed experience with 152 patients who presented with isolated digital nerve injuries over a 33-month period. Preoperative return of sensation and negative exploration cases were combined and referred to as the trauma-induced neurapraxia (TIN) group. There were 18 non-repair cases among the 152 isolated digital nerve injuries, giving a 12 percent incidence of TIN. Sensory recovery among the TIN patients ranged from 12 days to 6 months. In this study, the authors defined a group of patients who did not require surgical repair for isolated digital nerve injury as TIN cases. The TIN group represented 12 percent of the digital nerve trauma patients and required long follow-up for sensory recovery. This information is an important part of patient education and informed consent.
Previous experiments performed on monkey and human fingertips suggested that the skin surface and stimulus probe decouple for sinusoidal displacements applied perpendicularly to the skin surface. From these observations, it was concluded that sinusoidal vibration may not be a suitable stimulus for understanding and modeling the tactile system. We repeated these experiments on human observers using stimulus frequencies ranging from 0.5 to 240 Hz and with displacement amplitudes up to 1 mm peak-to-peak (p-p). The skin and probe movements were measured in the steady-state using stroboscopic illumination and video microscopy. Contrary to previous conclusions, we found that decoupling did not occur for amplitudes less then 0.25 mm p-p, regardless of stimulus frequency. Decoupling was only observed for stimulus amplitudes greater than 0.25 mm over the stimulus-frequency range investigated. To further investigate this effect, a modified stimulus contactor was used, which permitted the measurement of the skin's movement using reflected light. Measurements were made on both the index fingertip and the thenar eminence. Regardless of body site, no decoupling between the skin and stimulus probe was observed for frequencies ranging from 20 to 100 Hz up to displacements of 0.25 mm p-p. These levels are well within the range used in most human psychophysical experiments performed on these parts of the body. We conclude that sinusoidal vibration can be used reliably to stimulate the tactile system and is an appropriate stimulus for developing models of touch.