I too have had NA 3 times now on my left hand Randy H. I have an MCP contracture on my ring finger which has stayed flat now for over one year. My pinkie though has the PIP contracture and is the stubborn one. The knuckle on that baby finger is very swollen and tender, painful to touch even. I feel it has been so affected by DC that it now refuses to give or bend, in spite of the fact that Dr. Binhammer in Toronto Canada breaks the cord with NA. I can't even hope to have it stay down to 10 degrees for more than 2 months, then up it goes again.
It goes to 90 degrees from the PIP joint (middle one) in 3 months, and in 6 months it's almost to the palm. That's when I take a plane to Toronto again. No small trip either, as I live in remote northern BC and need to take a plane to Vancouver BC first, transfer planes and go 5 hours flight east after that. It takes all day basically to do so.
Dr. Binhammer looked at my finger in October, just last month and said: "Holy Schmoley" or something of that nature, when he saw my pinkie after 6 monthjs of being done. He suggested that now opt for the open hand surgery to excise most of the DC tissue out, thus allowing me a longer period of time between procedures. It's tough going to Toronto every 6 months as it is, even if it is a tax write-off at the year end, I still have to fork up the plane ticket, hotel room for first night, bother some friends for pickup and delivery to the appointment, ride to the airport, etc.
I am trying to do some reading on surgery. My youngest brother has DC on both his hands and has had surgery on both. I only saw his scars once.
Early on in my DC discovery about 5 years ago, I saw a surgeon in Edmonton, who had an 18 month waiting list for hand surgery, and he discouraged me plenty on having OS on my hand. He said that women do not respond as well as men in the recovery of OS and that women's hands are more delicate etc. and seem to protest the invasion of the surgery more so than men.
Any comments anyone?

There are two hospitals in your area that provide XRT for Dupuytren's. I had an NA procedure performed and then followed it with XRT to hopefully halt or slow the progression of the disease.

Something to consider is that there is a good chance that within two years time that clostridial collagenase injections will be an available treatment to dissolve the tissue involved in the nodules and contractures. I would be looking for the most minimally invasive options to bridge that time gap in the interim.

Hand surgery is high risk and can involve 3-6 months to regain full use of your hand as well as extensive physical therapy during the first 2-3 months. The risks include permanent nerve damage which is 3x as likely with open hand surgery, and loss of muscle control as a result of the long period of time you hand and arm is without blood during the procedure with the tourniquet applied while the surgeon operates over a 1-1/2 hour period.

Bruce

Hi – I’m the guy who started this “Surgeon advised against NA because of nodule” discussion, and I’m here to report that Dr. Eaton did the NA on my right hand last week. All of you who wrote comments helped me make the decision in favor of NA, so thanks a million! Dr. Eaton is terrific. He spent a long time with my wife and me going over the procedure and studying my hand, then did the NA. Right away, I could lay my palm flat on a table. It was so non-invasive that my wife and I were walking on a nearby beach about 45 minutes after we left his office. (I’ve uploaded a picture from the beach walk that shows my hand. It’s at http://flickr.com/photos/7199506@N05/2096103626/ ) On a one-to-ten doctor rating scale I would give Dr. Eaton a ten. And on a one-to-ten restaurant rating scale I would give Little Moir’s Food Shack a ten as well. It’s just a few minutes drive from his office and if you do choose NA with Dr. Eaton, treat yourself to an excellent lunch after the procedure. Thanks again for your comments. They made all the difference!

For anyone following my case, I wanted you to know that I uploaded a short video to YouTube 16 March 2010. It describes the needle aponeurotomy I had with Dr. Charles Eaton. You can find it at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGD9RjmFBzo Here's the description that goes with it:

I made this video in response to a New York Times article about Dupuytrens contracture. The article explores a new drug treatment, but I had a very good result with a minimally invasive procedure called needle aponeurotomy. If you are considering treatment, there's good research at www.dupuytren-online.info

If you like the video, you may want to encourage people to watch it. You can find the New York Times article I was responding to at www.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/business/16handbar.html There's a companion article at www.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/business/16hand.html