Finger Fracture Surgery in Pune: Treating Broken Finger Bones

What is a finger fracture?

Each finger has three small bones called phalanges: the proximal, middle and distal phalanx. The thumb has two. Finger fractures are among the commonest fractures, often from falls, sport, crush injuries at work or home, or catching a finger in a door.

Signs include pain, swelling, bruising, difficulty bending the finger, an obvious bend, or a finger that turns and overlaps its neighbour when you make a fist (scissoring). A crushed fingertip often comes with a nail bed injury or a blood collection under the nail.

Who may need surgery, and how is the finger assessed?

The doctor examines alignment, rotation, skin wounds, and the finger’s feeling and blood supply, then arranges X-rays from at least two angles. Surgery is usually considered when:

• the bone ends are badly displaced or shortened;
• the finger is rotated, causing scissoring;
• the fracture enters a joint with a step in the joint surface;
• the fracture is unstable and slips in a splint;
• the fracture is open (bone exposed through a wound), or tendons and nerves are also injured;
• several fingers are broken.

What are the treatment options?

Option	Suits	Points to consider
Buddy strapping	Stable, well-aligned fractures	Allows early movement
Splint or cast	Fractures that are stable once aligned	Needs X-ray checks; joints may stiffen
Closed reduction and wires	Unstable fractures that can be aligned without opening	Wires often removed at 3-4 weeks
Screws or mini plates	Displaced shaft fractures and some joint fractures	Allows earlier movement; more surgery
External fixator	Complex joint fractures or severe crush injuries	Frame outside the finger for a few weeks
Nail bed repair	Fingertip crush injuries	Helps the nail regrow normally

Associated injuries are treated at the same time: see tendon repair surgery and nerve repair surgery.

How is finger fracture surgery performed?

1. Anaesthesia: often a local anaesthetic, sometimes with the patient awake so finger movement can be checked during surgery; otherwise a regional block or general anaesthesia.
2. Reduction: the bone is aligned, with rotation checked by flexing the fingers.
3. Fixation: fine wires through the skin, or screws and a mini plate through a small cut.
4. Checking: X-ray images during surgery confirm the position.
5. Splint: a protective splint is applied, and movement starts as soon as the fixation allows.

How should you prepare, and what should you ask?

• Remove rings from the injured hand straight away, before swelling increases.
• Keep the hand raised above heart level.
• Tell the doctor about your job, hobbies and which hand you write with.

Questions to ask:

• Does my fracture need surgery, or will a splint do?
• Which fixation will you use, and will it need removal?
• When can I start moving the finger?
• When can I return to work, driving and sport?

What is recovery like?

Time	What to expect for most patients
Week 1	Hand raised; splint on; gentle movement of uninjured joints
Weeks 1-3	Hand therapy starts; protected movement of the injured finger
Weeks 3-6	Wires removed if used; bone healing on X-ray
Weeks 6-12	Strengthening; return to manual work and sport as advised
Months 3-6	Swelling and stiffness continue to improve

What are the risks?

• Stiffness, the commonest problem, reduced by early movement and hand therapy.
• Malunion: the bone heals in a crooked or rotated position.
• Non-union: the bone does not heal, uncommon.
• Pin-site infection around wires.
• Tendon irritation from plates, sometimes needing removal.
• Altered sensation or cold sensitivity of the finger.

Contact the team for increasing pain, redness around wires, fever, numbness or a finger that changes colour.

What results can you expect?

Most finger fractures heal well, and many people regain good function. Some loss of full bending or straightening, and some swelling of the joint, can persist, particularly after joint fractures and crush injuries.

What happens if a broken finger is not treated properly?

Many stable finger fractures heal well with simple strapping, so not every broken finger needs an operation. Problems arise when a rotated, displaced or joint fracture is left alone or pulled and massaged. The bone still joins, usually within about four to six weeks, but in the wrong position: a rotated finger crosses its neighbour when making a fist, getting in the way of grip, and a step in a joint surface can leave a stiff, painful joint and later arthritis. A finger bandaged still for many weeks can become stiff. Once a fracture has healed crooked, correction means cutting and fixing the bone again. Buddy strapping or a splint is reasonable for stable, well-aligned fractures, with X-ray checks to make sure the position holds.

Common myths about finger fractures

• “If I can move the finger, it cannot be broken.” Many people can still move a fractured finger, so an X-ray is needed when there is swelling, bruising or a change in shape.
• “A bone-setter can pull the finger straight.” Pulling or massaging an unstable fracture can displace it further, and only an X-ray shows whether the bone and joint surface are properly aligned.
• “Keeping the finger completely still for weeks helps it heal faster.” Long immobilisation causes stiffness, so movement is usually started as early as the fracture allows.
• “Wires or plates mean the finger will never work normally again.” Fixation is used so that the finger can be moved earlier, and many people regain good function.

What affects the cost of finger fracture surgery in Pune?

• Type of fracture and number of fingers.
• Fixation: wires, screws, plates or a frame.
• Anaesthesia and day-care charges.
• X-rays, hand therapy and follow-up visits.

Treatment after an injury is often covered by health or accident insurance, subject to your policy.