Risks
In principle, no surgery is without risk for any form of surgical therapy! At this point, however, we can only point out possible risks as examples. Only the attending physician can discuss individual risks with you and take them into account during the therapy.
A possible risk for the failure of the finger arthrosis operation is that the arthrodesis does not develop and thus no desired joint stiffening occurs. Premature loosening of the wires is also conceivable. Every surgical intervention carries the risk of infection.
While in the case of superficial infections it is usually sufficient to perform a local antiseptic treatment in combination with an antibiotic, revision surgery (second operation) may be necessary in the case of rarely occurring deep joint infections. In addition to the risks already mentioned, there is the rare risk of the development of a so-called Sudeck dystrophy in all surgical interventions in the hand area. This is the painful swelling of the hand, which can severely restrict the hand’s mobility due to the disturbance of the fine blood circulation.
The cause for the development of this clinical picture is largely unknown. What kind of anaesthesia is used for this procedure? The so-called plexus anesthesia is widely used when operations are performed in the area of the hand.
An anaesthetic is injected into a nerve plexus in the armpit, which anaesthetizes the entire arm after about 30 to 45 minutes. In addition to minor surgical procedures, plexus anesthesia is also suitable for larger operations.The significantly lower risk of anaesthesia and the fact that the patient is almost fully functional again immediately after the operation are positive features. While the arm is still anaesthetized for hours and thus the pain can be almost eliminated, the arm is responsive and can eat and drink, for example. Since the patient would fully perceive the operation with this form of anesthesia, there is the possibility of injecting a light sleeping pill. The patient then sleeps through the operation, but this should not be confused with the anaesthetic sleep of general anaesthesia.
