Abbrevatio: a new operation for chronic mallet finger

An old, but hitherto unpublished, method for surgical correction of chronic mallet finger was carried out in 42 patients. In the abbrevatio operation, the elongated tendon is transected and resutured, after which the developing fibrous scar tissue usually causes adequate shrinkage for correcting the drop-deformity. The D.I.P. joint is transfixed with a K wire in slight hyperextension for six weeks. Forty patients were studied. The result was excellent in 16 patients (40%), good in 20%, fair in 17.5% and poor in 22.5%. On average, the extension defect was decreased from 38.2% to 11.8%. The method is a suitable alternative in patients with annoying chronic mallet finger who refuse arthrodesis or further conservative treatment.