Closed traumatic rupture of the flexor pollicis longus tendon in zone T I: a case report

A healthy 41-year-old male suffered a direct blow on the palmar side of his right thumb when folding a table, which slipped along his thumb until it was stopped at the inter-phalangeal (IP) joint, resulting in a complete rupture of the flexor pollicis longus (FPL) tendon in zone T I. The proximal tendon stump was passed through the oblique pulley, fixed to the base of the distal phalanx with a pull-out wire technique and augmented on it using a part of the distal tendon remnant. After removal of the cast and the pull-out wire three weeks postoperatively, range of motion exercise was initiated and good functional recovery was obtained.