All aspects of hand surgery are dealt with in this service.
This involves a number of specialities including plastic and reconstructive surgery, vascular surgery, radiology, neurophysiology, rehabilitation, paediatrics, anaesthesia, pain management, hand physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
The hand surgery service has three orthopaedic consultants and is supported by plastics and reconstructive surgeons with an interest in hand surgery.
Treatment
Hand surgery treats conditions of the hand, the wrist and peripheral nerves of the upper limb. It also involves reconstructive surgery that improves upper limb function after nerve injury such as brachial plexus injury and spinal cord injury.
Although it is a surgical speciality, many conditions are treated without surgery using injections, splints and physiotherapy.
Conditions
All common conditions in hand surgery are seen and treated including:
- Carpal and cubital tunnel syndrome
- Dupuytren’s disease
- Arthritis
- Ganglions and other swellings
- Tendon disorders such as trigger finger and De Quervain’s disease
- Sports injuries
Service
There is a combined orthopaedic and plastic surgery rota for hand trauma covering 24 hours a day receiving referrals from within the trust. The service also takes complex hand trauma from surrounding hospitals if the necessary expertise is not available to deal with these injuries in those hospitals. The cases requiring surgery are operated on specific hand trauma operating lists on most days of the week.
The hand surgery service takes many tertiary referrals from within South Tees NHS Foundation Trust and from the surrounding hospitals for complex and post-traumatic conditions.
There are specialist clinics for hand fractures, acute wrist conditions, combined rheumatology clinics, combined spinal injury hand clinics and multi-disciplinary follow-up clinics.