MALLET FINGER
Mallet injury It’s a frequent extensor tendon injury, typical of some sports (basketball, volleyball, rugby). The tendon injury occurs at the base of the distal phalanx with a typical appearance of the fingertip dropping causing cosmetic and functional problem.
If the tendon lesion is not associated with an avulsion fracture the “gold standard” treatment is splinting the finger for 6-8 weeks with the PIP joint free. Otherwise surgical treatment is mandatory. I’m used to perform a mini-invasive surgery without skin incisions but only using small Kirschner wires inserted percutaneously which reduce and stabilize the bony fragments them in the anatomic position with a final healing. A comparative study I conducted in 2010 and published in a major international journal Chinese compared these minimally invasive techniques with the traditional open technique and did not demonstrate any statistically significant difference.