Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Claw Hand, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions
Claw Hand, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions
Claw Hand, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions
Ebook108 pages49 minutes

Claw Hand, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

Read preview

About this ebook

Claw hand is a medical deformity of the hand that causes abnormally bent or curved fingers.
This abnormally makes the hand appear similar to the claw of an animal.
A claw hand may be frightening to other children and some adults because of the shape of the hand.
The disorder may be caused by a congenital deformity that is detected at birth (congenital), or because of an injury to the ulnar nerve
The claw hand deformity is manifested by flattening of the longitudinal arches and transverse metacarpal arch, with hyperextension of MCP joints and flexion of the PIP and DIP joints.
The deformity is induced by imbalance of the intrinsic and extrinsic muscles:
1. The intrinsic muscles must be significantly weakened or paralyzed to cause claw deformity
2. The long extensor muscles hyperextend the MCP joint and long flexor muscles flex the PIP and DIP joints
3. The weakness of the long flexors (as in high palsy) actually reduces claw fingers
4. The PIP joint loses the ability to extend through the lateral bands and must depend on the central slip
5. Due to the anatomy of the sagittal band, MP joint hyperextension obstructs the central slip from extending the PIP
6. The main energy of contracted extensor mechanism is directed on sagittal band, resulting in further MCP hyperextension
7. The tenodesis action of extending the fingers with wrist flexion is lost
Causes may include:
1. Congenital abnormality (present at birth)
2. Damage to the ulnar nerve
3. Scarring after a severe burn of the hand or forearm
4. Nerve palsy due to leprosy
Worldwide, the nerve palsy due to leprosy still is the most common cause of the claw hand
The classic claw hand involves the flexion of the inter-phalangeal joints and hyperextension of the metacarpo-phalangeal joints with attempts to extend the digits.
Surgery is done to treat abnormalities that may be causing the claw hand, such as nerve disorders, tendon anomalies, joint contractures, or scar tissue
If the nerves are not repairable or repairs have failed, tendon transfers can be done.
Tendon transfers at best correct the claw deformity and thumb collapse
It does little to recover the functional disability of loss of abduction or adduction of the fingers or thumb collapse.
Rehabilitation with physiotherapy and splintage may help the patient:
a. Splinting
b. Treatment to straighten the fingers
Non-surgical treatment measures for acquired form of Claw Hand are:
a. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory oral medications, such as indomethacin and naproxen, may be used to help reduce the pain and swelling
b. Complete immobilization of the hand with a cast may be needed, to restrict movement

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Claw Hand
Chapter 2 Causes
Chapter 3 Symptoms
Chapter 4 Diagnosis
Chapter 5 Treatment
Chapter 6 Prognosis
Chapter 7 Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Chapter 8 Dupuytrens Contracture
Epilogue

LanguageEnglish
PublisherKenneth Kee
Release dateDec 7, 2016
ISBN9781370377343
Claw Hand, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions
Author

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Read more from Kenneth Kee

Related to Claw Hand, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

Related ebooks

Wellness For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Claw Hand, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5

1 rating0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    Claw Hand, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions - Kenneth Kee

    Claw Hand,

    A

    Simple

    Guide

    To

    The Condition,

    Diagnosis,

    Treatment

    And

    Related Conditions

    By

    Dr Kenneth Kee

    M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

    Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

    Copyright Kenneth Kee 2016 Smashwords Edition

    Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

    Dedication

    This book is dedicated

    To my wife Dorothy

    And my children

    Carolyn, Grace

    And Kelvin

    This book describes the Claw Hand, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

    (What You Need to Treat Claw Hand)

    This eBook is licensed for the personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

    If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

    Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

    Introduction

    I have been writing medical articles for my blog http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Condition) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

    My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

    Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

    I then wrote an autobiolographical account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

    This autobiolographical account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Conditions into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

    From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 700 amazon kindle books and some into Smashwords.com eBooks.

    Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

    For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

    The later books go into more details of medical conditions.

    The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

    Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

    As I tried to bring you the latest information about a condition or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

    Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

    I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

    I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

    I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

    Chapter 1

    Claw hand

    What is a Claw Hand?

    Claw hand is a medical deformity of the hand that causes abnormally bent or curved fingers.

    This abnormally makes the hand appear similar to the claw of an animal.

    A claw hand may be frightening to other children and some adults because of the shape of the hand.

    The disorder may be caused by a congenital deformity that is detected at birth (congenital), or because of an injury to the ulnar nerve

    The claw hand deformity is manifested by flattening of the longitudinal arches and transverse metacarpal arch, with hyperextension of MCP joints and flexion of the PIP and DIP joints.

    The deformity is induced by imbalance of the intrinsic and extrinsic muscles:

    1. The intrinsic muscles must be significantly weakened or paralyzed to cause claw deformity

    2. The long extensor muscles hyperextend the MCP joint and long flexor muscles flex the PIP and DIP joints

    3. The weakness of the long flexors (as in high palsy) actually reduces claw fingers

    4. The PIP joint loses the ability to extend through the lateral bands and must depend on the central slip

    5. Due to the anatomy of the sagittal band, MP joint hyperextension obstructs the central slip from extending the PIP

    6. The main energy of contracted extensor mechanism is directed on sagittal band, resulting in further MCP hyperextension

    7. The tenodesis action of extending the fingers with wrist flexion is lost

    The smooth flexion pattern is lost:

    1. Normally, MP flexion begins finger flexion and all joint reach full flexion nearly together;

    2. The distal joint flexion is finished prior to the start of MP joint flexion

    3. The fingers instantly come into contact with the palm with flexion

    Someone can be born with claw hand (congenital), or they can develop it because of certain disorders, such as nerve injury.

    What are

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1