PROSPECTIVE STUDY ON THE MANAGEMENT OF TRIGGER FINGER

Abstract

Trigger finger is one of the very common conditions encountered in hand surgery. Currently, the treatment modes we offer in our clinics are combination therapy of topical NSAIDS, occupational therapy and splinting or invasive modes involving corticosteroid injections and trigger finger release. This is a prospective review looking at the outcomes of the various initial treatment modules currently used for treating trigger fingers and the rate of surgery following non-surgical treatment. From our study we have noted that 26% of the digits which were subjected to combination therapy eventually underwent surgery whereas 60% of digits which received corticosteroid injections underwent surgery. Even though our results comparing operation rates are not statistically significant, they appear to show that combination therapy was more effective in avoiding surgery than corticosteroid injection in lower grades of trigger.