Dupuytren's disease: relation to work and injury.

The present status of adjudication for workers claiming compensation for Dupuytren's disease is inconsistent and, therefore, unfair to both workers and employers. In some Eastern European countries Dupuytren's disease is classified as an industrial disease, whereas in other countries it is considered to have no relation to manual work or hand injury. In jurisdictions that sometimes award compensation, the reasons for acceptance or rejection of a claim vary from case to case and are not necessarily based on our present knowledge of the disease. The purpose of this communication is to highlight the features of Dupuytren's disease that are pertinent to manual work and hand injury and to suggest guidelines that would provide some consistency in the adjudication process. It is hoped that these guidelines would be valuable to the individual surgeon, insurance agencies, and compensation boards.