Broken Finger Joint Surgery

Finger grafting surgery is performed by a surgeon on patients whose fingers are severed. In severe conditions, finger grafting operations may not be possible, even amputations can be done so as not to interfere with the ability of sufferers to move by hand.

The surgeon will try to reconnect the severed finger through surgery. However, not all broken fingers can be reconnected. The surgeon will first check to determine whether the broken finger can be reattached or not.

How to Help with a Broken Finger

Before you talk further about finger grafting operations, you need to know how to do help on broken fingers.

In general, there are 3 things that need to be considered in handling the broken finger, starting from giving first aid to the broken finger, taking care of the injured hand, to taking care of the severed finger.

First aid

The first aid you need to do if you experience or see someone else experience a broken finger is as follows:

• If an injury is caused by a machine, immediately turn off the engine.
• Do not remove jewelry or clothing that is attached to the site of injury.
• Perform wound care on the injured hand.
• Ask for help from others to care for the severed finger pieces.
• Call an ambulance immediately or go to the hospital to get help.

Treatment of injuries to injured hands

On the severed hand or finger base, first aid needs to be done are:

• Rinse the wound with sterile water or salt solution
• Cover the wound with sterile gauze or dressing
• Position the injured hand higher than the heart to reduce bleeding and swelling
• Pressing the wound to stop bleeding
• Do not squeeze or bandage the wound too tightly so that there remains blood flow to the surrounding tissue

Care for finger pieces

If there are other people who can help, ask the person to take care of the severed finger piece. The trick is as follows:

• Wash the severed finger pieces with sterile water or salt solution. Do it gently and avoid rubbing finger pieces.
• Wrap the finger with wet gauze to keep it moist, but don't get too wet or soaked in water.
• Place your finger in a clean, waterproof bag and place the bag in a plastic bag.
• Put a plastic bag on ice. Try not to cut the finger directly in contact with the ice because the tissue can be damaged.

If more than one finger is cut off, place each finger piece in a separate, clean bag. The aim is to prevent infection and tissue damage in the finger pieces.

When is the Disconnect Finger Surgery Performed?

Broken finger joint surgery (finger replantation) is usually done if the finger is broken for less than 12 hours. If the injury is further into the hand or arm, the connection time will be shorter, because the muscle tissue has to be reconnected within 6 hours of injury.

The main purpose of connecting a broken finger is to restore the ability to grasp. This grasping ability can be done when the hand has a thumb and at least two other fingers. If the thumb or several fingers are cut off, then the finger joint must be done.

However, not all broken fingers can be reconnected. There are several conditions that cause finger grafting operations can not be done, namely:

• Crushed or dirty fingers→ A broken or contaminated finger (dirty) usually has a lot of tissue damage and is difficult to be reattached. Such conditions often occur in injuries due to lawnmowers, chainsaws, or agricultural tools.
• Injuries have occurred for too long→ A finger that has been broken for more than 12 hours has suffered so much tissue damage that it cannot be reconnected.

In addition, there are also several considerations for not performing finger grafting operations that are broken, including:

• Only one finger is broken and not the thumb, so it does not interfere with the ability to hold.
• The injury occurs at the tip of the finger where the wound's ability to heal is good enough so that it can heal itself.

Even though a broken finger grafting operation cannot be done, the patient still needs to undergo surgery to repair the wound. Sometimes, the surgeon will need to remove the skin from other parts of the body to cover the wound on the patient's fingers or hands.

A broken finger can be reconnected with a finger grafting operation, or not. This depends on the condition and duration of the wound. First aid kit done correctly can increase the chance of a broken finger to be reattached.

However, prevention is certainly better than cure. To avoid injuries at work that can result in finger breaking, always obey work safety rules, and use the recommended personal protective equipment.

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