Congential trigger thumb?

Question

My son was diagnosed with congential trigger thumb when he was appx 13 months old. We noticed that his thumb on his left hand was locked in a bent position and would not straighten out no matter what you tried. This never caused him any pain nor did it bother him at all. We tried physical therapy and it did not work. Finally we had to schedule surgery to fix it. A week before the surgery we noticed that his other thumb was doing the same thing. So, the doctor performed the surgery on both thumbs. The surgery took place around March of this year and he has had absolutely no problems with it at all. (Thank God!). It was a very small incision on his hand and it was over pretty quickly. My question is are there any other parents out there who have dealt with this same problem? My doctor advised that he has seen the condition in adults but that it is very rare in children and they don't know why it happens.

There are no signs of the incision on his hand whatsoever and I am glad that we did it at a young age. It killed me to watch him walk away in the nurse's arms just smiling at me, but I know he won't even remember any of it. And thank you to those who have wished him well and that were glad that he was okay! Thank you!

Rose- I think the procedure was scarier for his father and I than it was him. They did put him under. We stayed with him up until the very minute before they started the surgery. They made one small incision in each hand at the base of his thumb. Looking at them now, you can't even tell. The surgery took about 1 1/2 hours. We saw him in recovery and we got to ride the gurney with him to his room. It was an outpatient surgery, so as soon as he was able to keep a liquid diet down we got to take him home. They wrapped each arm in thick bandages around his thumb, wrist and up to his elbows. It looked like he had casts on both arms. He was still able to use both of his hands right after. He totally amazed me, because no sooner than we left he was back to his normal self. He acted as nothing ever happened. He had no pain. We went back to his dr. in two or three weeks and had the bandages taken off. Little ones are so resilant, they are amazing.

The surgery itself is they make a small incision at the base of the thumb and go inside the thumb. The way it was explained to me was there is a ligament that is swollen on one side of the joint and its not able to go back through to the straightened out position. They basically just go in and manually release it. Therapy didn't work with him either. He would wear a brace and when we would take it off his thumb would be fine but not even a minute later it would be locked again. I am glad that we did the surgery. I think it was the best thing for him. If you do decide to do the surgery, I am confident that all will go well and I wish you the best of luck. If you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask.

Answer 1

WELL WHAT DO YOU KNOW!? My daughter has been partially diagnosed with this...I'll explain. At her 12 month check up, my husband asked about it, because he used to always play with her hands, and was always curious and suspicious of these weird bent thumbs that didn't straighten out. So he asked, and the pediatrician said that that is what it looks like, and his son also had it. So now, she is 18 months, still no straightening out of the thumbs, but we haven't taken her to a surgeon or a special doctor, yet. We want her to play piano, which the doctor said she probably won't be able to with her thumbs like this, but I just can't imagine putting my baby into surgery...
I'm glad it all worked out for you wonderfully...we'll see how our predicament works out.

Well wishes to your baby and his health. :)

Answer 2

I daughter just turned into four this month. Two months ago we noticed the symptom on her thumb. Her thumb is locked in a bent position and can't be staight. I can help her to straighten with 5-minute masage and we can feel a "click" while straighten it. But soon it will be in bent again. I don't know the cause but sure that her thumb was fine before. Our hand surgon is recommending surgury. I am so worried and so far we have seen 4 different doctors. But the physical therapy is not working. We are thinking about the surgery. Thanks for more advice in advance. How is the surgery performed? Was your son put into sleep? Is the cut big?

Thanks a lot.

Answer 3

Trigger Thumb In Toddlers

Answer 4

i did not know what it was called but my sister has it on her pinky finger. my sister is 29 hers was when she was little too. She never wanted to get it fix she was scared too. It does not affect her in any way though.
That is good that he was ok.