How I Manage Mallet Finger.

In brief: Mallet finger is common among athletes who play contact sports. This deformity results from the loss of extensor function of the distal interphalangeal joint. Most sports injuries of this type can be treated conservatively by splinting. Patients usually wear the splint for eight weeks or more; they must remove it to clean the finger every few days, making sure that the finger does not bend while the splint is off. Surgery should be reserved for deformities resulting from a fracture with a subluxated palmar fragment, and then only when conservative treatment has I failed.