[Spontaneous rupture of the extensor pollicis longus].

A review of the literature is followed by the analysis of a series of forty-four patients who were treated by extensor indicis transposition. Twenty-five patients could be reached for a clinical follow-up examination, nine further patients were interviewed by telephone; of the remaining ten patients, seven could not be reached and three had died. Excluded from the series were patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Results were evaluated according to the scheme suggested by Geldmacher and coworkers. According to their evaluation scheme, we can report fourteen excellent, eight good, three satisfactory, and no bad results. Subjectively, the results were even better, with twenty-eight patients reporting excellent, four good, and two satisfactory results, including those nine patients contacted by telephone only. Strength of extension of the index finger was not diminished after the extensor indicis transposition when all fingers were extended simultaneously. However, there was a deficit of extension in a few cases when the remaining fingers were clenched to a fist. This indicates that an alternative method should probably be recommended in patients with professions where individual extension of the index finger is of paramount importance. It is also suggested that additional functional tests, convertible into score points, might render the evaluation more realistic than measurements only. Inclusion of these additional functional tests might also give an explanation for the discrepancy between patients' subjective results and those as a result of measurement only.