Zone II flexor tendon repair in children. A retrospective long term study

Forty-three children with 46 lacerations of the flexor digitorum profundus tendon were evaluated at a mean of five and a half years (range three to 10) after tendon repair. Postoperatively, 27 digits were treated with early controlled mobilisation as described by Kleinert and 19 digits were immobilised in plaster. Thirty-one digits were primarily repaired within 24 hours, and in 15 digits repair was delayed. The return of total active motion (TAM) in the interphalangeal joints was evaluated with the Strickland formula, and the mean was 77%. TAM correlated with the age of the child at the time of injury. Variables such as postoperative regimen, concurrent injury to the superficial tendon or digital nerve, delayed tendon repair, localisation of injury in the fibro-osseous canal, and type of trauma, had no significant effect on the final result.