By Dr Irwin Lim, Rheumatologist
Out of the blue. He was cooking when he felt a little snap.
It wasn't particularly painful but the ring finger couldn't be straighten.
Extensor tendon rupture. This is a complication that I've read about in textbooks and I gather it used to happen quite often, in the days, when disease was more poorly controlled.
In this case, there had been persistent tenosynovitis (tendon and tendon sheath inflammation) at the right wrist for many months.
This complication of active rheumatoid arthritis requires surgical repair.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpFPuqFUlyQ
Dr Irwin Lim is a rheumatologist and a director of BJC Health. You should follow him on twitter here. Arthritis requires an integrated approach. We call this, Connected Care. Contact us.
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