Hand Injuries and Fractures

What is Hand Trauma?

Hand trauma ranges from simple fingertip injuries to tendon injuries and fractures.

Hand injuries can be divided into six general categories by causes:

  • Burns
  • Cuts (lacerations)
  • Fractures and dislocations
  • High pressure injuries (from grease and paint guns)
  • Infections
  • Soft tissue (flesh) injuries and amputations

The symptoms of hand injuries vary depending on the type of injury, how the injury occurred (mechanism), depth, severity and location. The incident is usually obvious. A wide range of symptoms, including severe pain, loss of sensation of a finger, loss of range of motion, tissue loss, amputation of part of the finger, deformity, discolouration, loss of tissue, change in texture of skin, blistering, black areas of tissue, foul smelling and fever, indicate more severe injuries or infections.

Treatment varies according to the type of injury.

For amputations of finger part:

  • Clean the amputated part with water or sterile saline immediately
  • Wrap it with moist gauze inside a watertight bag
  • Place the bag in another container or watertight bag with ice. (Avoid direct contact with the amputated part with ice)
  • Seek immediate help from the emergency unit in a hospital. An amputated part is usually not repairable after 6 hours from injury.

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