Conservative treatment for trigger thumb in children

Abstract

Conservative treatment was performed for 60 trigger thumbs (19 right, 17 left, 12 bilateral) in 48 children (19 boys, 29 girls); the age at initial diagnosis ranged from 0 to 48 months old (mean 26 months). In this approach, only passive exercise of the affected thumb was performed by the mother. As a result, two patients (two thumbs) dropped out of treatment. Fifty-six thumbs out of 58 showed a satisfactory result (96%). Sixteen thumbs (in stage 2) and eight thumbs (in stage 3) showed completely recovery. Four thumbs (in stage 3) have not yet improved. In conclusion, we suggest that conservative treatment is effective for trigger thumbs in stage 2, while surgical therapy was thought to be indicated for stage 3 before the age of 3 years to avoid flexion deformity.