WHAT IS "HAND" SURGERY?

The Scope of Hand Surgery

Hand surgery as a specialty had its formal beginnings in World War II. Faced with thousands of military personnel returning from the fronts with injuries of the upper extremity, the Surgeon General of the Army established nine centers for hand surgery throughout the United States for the care of these individuals.

After the war, many of the lessons learned from these patients were applied to similar injuries seen in civilian life, and since that time, knowledge regarding the treatment of hand problems has become increasingly more sophisticated.

Impaired function of the hand can result from injuries of the skin, nerves, bones, joints, muscles, tendons and blood vessels of the entire upper extremity. Therefore "Hand Surgery" does not stop at the wrist, but includes any injury, disease, or condition that causes hand disability or dysfunction.

Relationship of Hand Surgery to Microvascular Surgery

Many of the advances in hand surgery over the past two decades have been the result of tremendous progress in the field of microvascular surgery. Dr. Pederson is a world renowned microvascular surgeon, and several other physicians in The Hand Center are very accomplished microvascular surgeons as well. By no means do all problems in the hand require microsurgery, but these new techniques have allowed hand surgeons to devise better methods of treatment for many of the difficult problems we see.