[Hand surgery in German orthopedics]

The intention of this report is to present an overview of the development of hand surgery and its status in German orthopedics. An important role was played by orthopedics in the development of hand surgery: many insights and classifications in this field originate from orthopedic surgeons and retain their validity in this century. In the past few decades, traumatologists and plastic surgeons have become increasingly active in the field of hand surgery and have added to their surgical repertoire some fields formerly regarded as part of classic orthopedics, e.g., correction of malformations of the hand. Although microsurgical techniques of hand surgery were primarily developed by plastic surgeons, the past should nevertheless motivate all orthopedists to continue considering hand surgery the "pearl of orthopedics" in the future.