Hand Injuries

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• Hand Injury Overview
• Hand Injury Causes
• Hand Injury Symptoms
• When to Seek Medical Care
• Exams and Tests
• Hand Injury Treatment
• Self-Care at Home
• Medical Treatment
• Next Steps
• Follow-up
• Prevention
• Outlook
• Synonyms and Keywords
• Authors and Editors

Hand Injury Overview

Intricate in design and function, the hand is an amazing work of anatomy. Form follows function in the hand; therefore, any injury to the underlying structures of the hand carries the potential for serious handicap. To reduce this risk, even the smallest hand injuries require a good medical evaluation.

The goal with injuries to the hand is a rapid and accurate initial evaluation. In other words, once an injury occurs, the doctor strives to begin medical treatment quickly so the short- and long-term effects can be minimized.

The hand consists of 27 bones when the 8 bones of the wrist are included. When the other associated structures (nerves, arteries, veins, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joint cartilage) are considered, the potential for a variety of injuries exists when trauma involves the hand.

Hand injuries account for nearly 10% of hospital Emergency Department visits. A recent series of 1,000 consecutive hand injuries showed the following distribution: 42% lacerations (cuts), 27% contusions (bruises), 17% fractures (broken bones), and 5% infections.

The most common cause of the injuries was blunt trauma (50%) followed by injury from a sharp object (25%).