Flexor Tendon Injury & Reconstruction

Chapter 2 of Volume 1, Hand & Upper Limb. Revision notes and examiner-style viva questions with model answers for the FRCS (Plast).

8 viva questions in this chapter

1. A 34-year-old joiner had a zone 2 flexor repair to his ring finger eight months ago. He has no active DIP or PIP flexion. How do you assess him?
   Model answer for subscribers
2. Same man, but he has full passive range and 40 degrees of active PIP flexion, and therapy has plateaued. What now?
   Model answer for subscribers
3. When do you graft in one stage rather than two?
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4. The sheath is obliterated and A2 has gone. Take me through your first stage.
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5. Three months on, the finger has full passive range. Take me through stage II.
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6. How do you reconstruct A2, and which technique do you use?
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7. Two months after your graft, his middle finger will not fully flex when he makes a fist. What has happened?
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8. He is a 58-year-old self-employed roofer, four months after a failed repair. He tells you: “I just want to get back on site — I can’t afford to be off for another six months.”
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