Mechanisms of injury and prognosis in finger pulling--a retrospective study.

Eighteen patients were treated for finger pulling injuries between 1977 and 1986. There were two main types of injury, subcutaneous rupture of the flexor profundus tendon (n = 15) and fracture of the proximal phalanx of the finger (n = 3). Their mechanisms of injury were different. The prognosis in tendon ruptures is comparable to that in other open flexor tendon injuries. Age and distal localization were associated with a poorer prognosis in younger patients. Fractures healed well.