The hand and wrist are formed during the 8th week of gestation. This process consists of various steps and failure in any one or more of these steps may cause congenital or birth defects. The deformities may be major (absence of a bone) or minor (disproportion of a finger). The various types of hand and wrist defects include:
- Missing parts of the hand
- Webbed or fused fingers (syndactyl)
- Presence of extra fingers (polydactyl)
- Congenital constriction band syndrome (band of tissue forms around a finger, restricting normal growth and blood flow)
- Undergrowth or overgrowth of the different parts of the hand
Congenital conditions of the hand and wrist are treated based on various factors such as your child’s age, severity of the condition and cause of the condition. The different treatments include:
- Surgical separation of the webbed fingers
- Removal of the extra finger
- Use of splints to realign the fingers
- Tendon transfers
- Physical therapy to increase the strength in your hand
- Skin grafts to fill in the missing parts of the hand
- Correction of contractures
