Hand Tendon Transfers

Functional deficits in the hand arise most commonly as sequelae of radial, median, or ulnar nerve injury, but can also be secondary to brachial plexus injury, spinal cord injury, specific muscle or tendon injury, or as a result of polio. Additionally, non-displaced distal radius fractures treated non-operatively can lead to attritional rupture of the extensor pollicis longus. Tendon transfers are used to address functional deficits created by these conditions.

Much of what we know today about tendon transfers was learned in treating paralyzed limbs associated with polio and injured soldiers during World Wars I and II.