What is Dupuytren’s contracture?

This is a disease in which scars form on the palm of your hand, which subsequently grow, due to which fingers cannot fully straighten.

What is the essence of the problem?

Between skin and tendons in the palm, there is a lining called palmar aponeurosis. It starts from the base of the palm and diverges to the fingers in separate bundles. With Dupuytren’s contracture, there is a rapid growth of scarring connective tissue inside aponeurosis, as a result of which it begins to wrinkle, due to which there is a limitation of extension of the fingers.

At the beginning of the disease, a callus appears on the palm, which grows and coarsens over several years, then dense cicatricial cords form, which prevents fingers from extending normally. As a result, it all ends up with fingers being tightly pulled to the palm and it is already impossible to straighten them. No one knows for sure yet why does it happen. There is a version that the cause may be hereditary predisposition.

So, how to get rid of this problem?

It all depends on the severity of the disease. In early stages, when dense nodules form on the palm of your hand, various physiotherapy procedures are used, such as phonophoresis with collagenase, paraffin baths, ozokerite, and shock wave therapy. It is also necessary to perform special exercises to develop movement in fingers.

At this stage, the development of contracture can be broken quite effectively.

However, unfortunately, people with this disease seek medical help already at the stage when dense cicatricial cords are formed on the palm of their hand, which do not allow fingers to extend. In this case, there are several treatment options: the first option is when scarred aponeurosis is removed through an incision in the palm of your hand. The second option is through low-traumatic punctures, scar cords of aponeurosis under the skin are cut with sharp needles. In this case, fingers are released and can easily unbend. There is also another interesting method of treating contracture without surgery when a drug that dissolves cords is injected directly into cicatricial cords. Unfortunately, today there is no such treatment method that would save the patient from Dupuytren’s contracture once and for all. Not one technique can guarantee that this disease will not return in the future.