Two-year review of hand infections at a municipal hospital.

Although an unromantic topic, the management of hand infection can tax the patience and skill of the modern day surgeon. The addition of antibiotics to the surgeon's armamentarium have made the job easier than in the days of Kanavel and Koch but has not altered the basic surgical principles of elevation, immobilization and properly planned drainage. Awareness of hand anatomy in relation to infection and awareness of special categories of problems are necessary in preventing crippling deformities in one of our most precious possessions--the hand.