Factors influencing final range of motion in the fingers after fractures of the hand.

We evaluated 123 patients in which we treated 150 fractured fingers primarily. Sixty-seven percent of these fractured fingers required open reduction with internal fixation; the remainder had closed reduction with internal or external fixation, or immediate arthrodeses. Active and passive range-of-motion (ROM) exercises were usually begun within 3 days after injury. The active and passive ROM of all joints of each finger in the involved hand were measured at regular intervals until no further change in ROM occurred. An associated crush injury, a flexor or extensor tendon injury, or a skin loss (each) caused a significantly more frequent decrease in the final ROM of the unfractured fingers of the same hand. An associated joint injury, more than one fracture per finger, a crush injury, a flexor or extensor tendon injury, or a skin loss (each) caused a significant decrease in the ROM of the fractured fingers. After treatment of a simple fracture, the ROM in both the fractured and the unfractured fingers was essentially normal.