Hand Surgery and Microsurgery

Hand surgery is a branch concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and injuries of the hand, wrist, forearm and elbow, some injuries and diseases of the shoulder, repair of cuts to the hand, finger, arm nerves, blood vessels and tendons (sinews), and congenital disorders of the upper extremity, as well as brachial plexus injuries. For this reason, it is also called 'Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery'. In addition, it is concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and injuries of the lower extremity (leg and foot), cuts to vessels, nerves and tendons, and congenital disorders. A good hand surgeon must be proficient in the fields of microsurgery and reconstructive surgery. Surgical treatment of the vessels and nerves in these areas requires viewing through an operating microscope that magnifies the surgical field and tissues, and the use of fine-tipped micro instruments. For this reason, hand surgery and microsurgery are generally closely intertwined surgical branches.

The diseases and operations within the field of hand surgery are the following:

• Hand, arm and leg injuries
• Hand and foot tendon (sinew), nerve and vessel injuries
• Hand and finger amputations
• All types of congenital hand disorders
• Finger webbing (syndactyly)
• Extra fingers (polydactyly)
• Absence of fingers
• Hand and foot disorders due to burns
• Tumors developing in the hand (ganglion cyst…)
• Hand and finger fractures
• Tissue loss throughout the body
• Nerve entrapments (carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel syndromes…)
• Brachial plexus surgery
• Tendon entrapments (trigger finger, de Quervain tenosynovitis…)
• Trigger finger
• Dupuytren's disease (contracture)
• Hand and foot nail deformities (ingrown nail…)
• Hand and finger infections
• Fingertip deformities
• Hand and foot deformities due to burns

For good results after hand surgery, physiotherapy and rehabilitation, which are started early and may be needed for a long time, play a critical role. Many factors are important for healing, including the location of the operated area, the characteristics of the tissue, the patient's age, and the success of physiotherapy. In some reconstructive operations, it may not be possible to achieve excellent results despite a successful operation and physiotherapy and rehabilitation. In such cases, the aim is to restore the patient to the best possible hand function.