Injuries of the proximal interphalangeal joint of the fingers

A consecutive group of ninety-three patients with ninety-six affected joints, have been reviewed retrospectively to provide information regarding the incidence and longer term effects of injuries to the proximal interphalangeal joint of the fingers. The patients have been grouped according to the severity of the injury, judged clinically and radiologically. From this review it would appear that these injuries are somewhat less common than is suggested in the literature. The severity of the trauma would seem to influence the result in that some thirty per cent with dislocation or fracture-dislocation did badly and of these forty-three per cent had open injuries. Some experimental work on fresh cadavers, to investigate the damage to the ligaments in the more common dorsal dislocation, has been included. From our findings, suggestions have been made regarding the treatment of these injuries.