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Orthopaedic Surgery
Pediatric Hand Center
Hand surgery is the field of medicine that deals with problems of the hand, wrist and forearm. Hand surgeons care for these problems without surgery, and they are specially trained to operate when necessary. Many hand surgeons are also experts in diagnosing and caring for shoulder and elbow problems. Columbia University's Hand and Microvascular Service is one of the oldest, established by Dr. Robert E. Carroll in 1949. The service treats approximately 5,000 patients on an outpatient basis each year, and performs 1,000 operations annually.
The Pediatric Hand Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital offers comprehensive care to children and teenagers that have injuries or conditions affecting their hand’s performance, exercise or activity. The orthopaedic surgeons at our Center have the expertise, experience and qualifications to treat this unique population. In growing children, injuries to bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons and joints of the hand are often quite different from conditions more commonly seen with older patients. Special training and experience in pediatric hand surgery allows our specialists to appropriately treat the unique hand related medical needs of children.
Hand Disorders
Babies born with hands that are different than the normal hand have a congenital hand difference. Millions of steps are required for a normal hand to be formed; a failure in any step will result in a congenital disorder. Some of these congenital differences are believed to be caused by a genetic cause and others occur because of unknown causes, research efforts to further understand these problems are ongoing.
Approximately 5 percent of babies are born with a congenital difference of the hand. There are many kinds of hand differences that present at birth and each one of them can be treated differently. This is why it is very important for a child with a hand difference to be evaluated by a hand surgery specialist. Depending of the type of anomaly, treatment will be recommended by the hand surgeon, the treatment may be surgical and non-surgical depending on each individual case.
Immediately after the birth of a baby with a congenital difference of the hand, parents will feel pain, anger and even guilt, which are normal emotions to have. Family members must cope with their feelings, but hand surgeons can provide very important information and support to make this experience a better one.
Common Congenital Hand Disorders- Aplasias/Duplications/Hypoplasias
- Camptodactyly/Clynodactyly
- Congenital Trigger Finger
- Radial Club Hand
- Syndactyly (Webbed Fingers)
