title: Pseudorotation of the little finger metacarpal.
abstract: Fractures of the little finger metacarpal are common, and are often associated with significant soft-tissue swelling and the appearance of rotational malalignment when the fingers are flexed. Our hypothesis is that soft-tissue swelling causes this apparent rotational deformity of the flexed little finger. The fourth intermetacarpal spaces of three of the authors' non-dominant hands were injected with saline. Following injection, all the hands exhibited the appearance of internal rotation of the little finger. The mean change in rotation was 16 degrees and the maximum was 25 degrees. There was no change in the plane of the nail plate in extension in any hand. We conclude that soft-tissue swelling can cause the appearance of internal rotation of the flexed little finger in the absence of fracture.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery, Lismore Base Hospital, New South Wales, Australia. nicholas.Smith@tsrh.org
authors.forename: N C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Moncrieff
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hartnell
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ashwell
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004487:Edema / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005384:Finger Joint / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007270:Injections, Intra-Articular; D012399:Rotation; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D012965:Sodium Chloride