if you want information, go to pubmed.com and search on dupuytren...then head to the nearest med school library. There's a wealth out there, one paper by a Dr. Boyer even goes through the complications with surgery. Others compare results of different styles of surgery.

Steve, thanks for the info. Here is the second one I went to on surgery.

The surgical treatment of Dupuytren's contracture: a synthesis of techniques.

Skoff HD.

Department of Orthopedic and Plastic Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Brookline, Mass. 02446, USA. hskoff@aol.com

Dupuytren's disease is an affliction of the palmar fascia. Selective fasciectomy is recommended once contracture has occurred. Alternatives for wound closure include tissue rearrangement, the open palm technique, and full-thickness skin grafting. In this prospective study, a new "synthesis" technique was used to treat a cohort of patients with advanced Dupuytren's disease. The results were then compared with those of a second cohort of patients who underwent the open palm technique. Thirty consecutive patients were selected. Ten patients (nine men and one woman; average age, 67 years) underwent the open palm technique, and 20 patients (18 men and two women; average age, 70 years) underwent the synthesis method. Follow-up was 3.5 years for the open palm group and 2.7 years for the synthesis group. All patients in both groups improved with respect to motion, function, appearance, and satisfaction. Objectively, for the open palm technique, metacarpophalangeal joint contracture decreased from 50 degrees to 0 degrees, and proximal interphalangeal joint contracture decreased from 40 degrees to 6 degrees. Using the synthesis method, metacarpophalangeal joint contracture decreased from 57 degrees to 0 degrees, and proximal interphalangeal joint contracture decreased from 58 degrees to 10 degrees. The Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Test scores decreased from 37 to 30 in both groups. There were no significant differences between groups in these parameters. The two significant intergroup differences were healing time (40 days for the open palm technique versus 28 days for the synthesis method) and recurrence rate (50 percent for open palm versus 0 percent for synthesis). The synthesis technique combines with success the best features of current methods for the surgical treatment of advanced Dupuytren's disease.

Publication Types:
Clinical Trial
Randomized Controlled Trial

".....these therapies (including NA) have not proven to be clinically useful." Not Proven by exactly who and under what conditions?

Gee......good think Eaton doesn't read this site. He might find the article from which the above was quoted and decide to stop performing NA. I mean, this is Authoritative and all, isn't it. It **can't** be just plain Wrong!:-)

I did read the Boyer paper...it does point out all the risks of tradititional surgery very well. The abtract on NA basically says that recurrance is high but if you can live with that, the procedure is fine. Doctors are trying to find a longer term solution than minor surgery every couple years which NA will entail. That is why the Stony Brook authors said it was not clinically sound - they don't disagree it works if you read it but that the recurrance rate is high - they are also the researchers leading the Collagenase study which while similar to NA appears to have much longer lasting effects since the cord is dissolved, thus more of an appropriate clinical solution. Don't get me wrong folks, I had NA, but for real medical research Pubmed.com will present you the facts from peer reviewed doctors - and there are even papers in their that favor NA.

Should have been 'continuing to fight a losing battle'.

One could, I suppose admire your tenacity, but I suspect it's more ignorance and hard headedness than rationality.