Exams and Tests

Upon arriving at the Emergency Department or clinic, the medical evaluation may include a medical history and physical examination.

• Medical history
  
  
  • Past medical history (Do you have diabetes or arthritis? Do you smoke?)
    
    
  • Hand dominance (Are you right- or left-handed?)
    
    
  • Occupation, extracurricular activities, and hobbies (How do you use your hands?)
    
    
  • Mechanism of injury (How did the injury occur?)
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• Physical examination
  
  
  • Visual inspection (look at the injury)
    
    
  • Sensory nerve exam (feeling)
    
    
  • Vascular exam (circulation or blood supply)
    
    
  • Muscular and tendon exam (movement and strength)
    
    
  • Bone exam (broken bones or dislocated joints)
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• Tests: The doctor may order x-rays after the history and physical exam, if warranted. Certain hand injuries will require x-rays to identify fractures or dislocations or to rule out foreign bodies.
  
  
• After a thorough evaluation, the diagnosis usually falls within one of these common injury categories.
  
  
  • Lacerations
    
    
  • Fractures and dislocations
    
    
  • Soft tissue injuries and amputations
    
    
  • Infections
    
    
  • Burns
    
    
  • Thermal burns
    
    
    • First-degree burn - Superficial, involvement of the outermost layer of skin, characterized by pain, redness, swelling
      
      
    • Second-degree burn - Partial skin thickness, characterized by blistering
      
      
    • Third-degree burn - Extends completely through all skin layers, characterized by lack of pain and sensation
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  • Chemical burns
    
    
  • Electric burns
    
    
  • Cold injury or frostbite