Thoughts on surgery
Any surgery is not something to be undertaken lightly. Adding in a skin graft to a fasciectomy makes things more complicated and increases the risk of something going wrong. So I recommend making sure to discuss any surgery with your consultant to make sure you understand the risks. We all have different tolerances for risk so you need to be comfortable with any decision taken
What happens in Dupuytrens surgery?
The first thing to know about Dupuytren’s surgery is that you have a general anaesthetic. The arm to be operated on is then prepared and a tourniquet applied to cut off the blood supply to the hand. To be on the safe side surgery then must take place within 2 hours . Otherwise there is an increasing risk of permanent damage due to loss of circulation in the lower arm/hand. For this reason my surgeon explained that he would only ever do two fingers at a time (marked with a dot in the image above}. Fortunately, having had a general anaesthetic you remain unconscious as circulation is restored to the arm and hand. So no suffering the agonies of “pins and needles” as blood flow is restored. So off I went to the surgical ward to meet the cheerful anaesthetist who catheterised my hand and injected the anesthetic. I went under very easily.
After surgery
The next thing I knew it as about 3 hours later and I was back in my bed, hungry and thirsty. At this stage there was no pain, the arm was elevated to reduce the pressure on the wound. The only trouble was it was hooked on to a stand that I couldn’t reach. Had to call for help to get unhitched so I could go to the toilet. Almost immediately was given a sandwich and a cup of tea. A couple of hours later after a visit from the surgeon and filling in discharge forms I was allowed to go home. The surgeon declared himself very satisfied with the operation although it got a bit complicated as the nerve into my little finger was twisted around the collagen fibres. Painkillers were provided along with instructions about keeping my arm elevated as much as possible for a while
Just after surgery. My hand is encased in a loevely purple sling.
Without the sling, note the arrow on the arm to reming the surgeon which hand to operate on! The bandage further up the arm is where the surgeon took skin for the graft on my little finger.
