I just saw a VA hand surgeon named Dr. Bond at the Oklahoma City VAMC this morning. I heard nothing but horror stories from him. Possibility of fingers being amputated, how nerves and blood vessels wrap themselves around the chord/fascia tissue and how Xiaflex cause the contracture tissues, nerves and blood vessels to become all fused together. How the nerves and blood vessels become shortened in the pinky finger. My left finger (pinky)is now bound at a 90 degree angle. There is a big chord connecting from the palm of my hand to the lowest joint (or is it the middle joint??) of the pinky. I still have movement and full feeling in that pinky.

Three years ago I had a "steroids" injection to treat this contracture when it was not as severe. The doctor at the VAMC in Boise, Idaho successfully fully extended this pinky but there was still some lumps at the base of the pinky joining and in the palm below it. The left hand was fully functional and I could play my piano up until late last summer when the pinky started to close up again. Here is what I discovered last week. The VA medical center in Boise, Id. did not actually use "steroids injection" but rather Xiaflex. I did have pain in the left armpit for about a day, swollen limp node. I check my VA medical records and it was indeed Xiaflex used in March of 2019 to treat my contracture.

Should I just stick with repeated Xiaflex treatments as needed and say no to Doctor Butcher of the VA Ortho Surgery department? I was in the army and got out in 1995. Soldiers would often tell me how their surgeons just love to cut. Maybe some VA surgeons are just as carve-happy. I did have hand surgery in this same region in 1995. The army did the surgery under Bier block and the results were great. It was just small lumps they removed in the palm of my hand and there was little or no pinky bending back then, however.

This Dr. Bond claims that since I already had previous Xiaflex treatment, that hand surgery now would be very complicated and quite dicey according to him. He has even admitted to me that some of his patients have had finger amputations as an outcome to hand surgery. I am a male age 58 now and of northwestern European ancestry.

Edited 05/12/22 08:25

spanishbuddha:

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JohnPBailey:

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I just saw a VA hand surgeon named Dr. Bond at the Oklahoma City VAMC this morning. I heard nothing but horror stories from him. Possibility of fingers being amputated, how nerves and blood vessels wrap themselves around the chord/fascia tissue and how Xiaflex cause the contracture tissues, nerves and blood vessels to become all fused together. How the nerves and blood vessels become shortened in the pinky finger. My left finger (pinky)is now bound at a 90 degree angle. There is a big chord connecting from the palm of my hand to the lowest joint (or is it the middle joint??) of the pinky. I still have movement and full feeling in that pinky.

Three years ago I had a "steroids" injection to treat this contracture when it was not as severe. The doctor at the VAMC in Boise, Idaho successfully fully extended this pinky but there was still some lumps at the base of the pinky joining and in the palm below it. The left hand was fully functional and I could play my piano up until late last summer when the pinky started to close up again. Here is what I discovered last week. The VA medical center in Boise, Id. did not actually use "steroids injection" but rather Xiaflex. I did have pain in the left armpit for about a day, swollen limp node. I check my VA medical records and it was indeed Xiaflex used in March of 2019 to treat my contracture.

Should I just stick with repeated Xiaflex treatments as needed and say no to Doctor Butcher of the VA Ortho Surgery department? I was in the army and got out in 1995. Soldiers would often tell me how their surgeons just love to cut. Maybe some VA surgeons are just as carve-happy. I did have hand surgery in this same region in 1995. The army did the surgery under Bier block and the results were great. It was just small lumps they removed in the palm of my hand and there was little or no pinky bending back then, however.

This Dr. Bond claims that since I already had previous Xiaflex treatment, that hand surgery now would be very complicated and quite dicey according to him. He has even admitted to me that some of his patients have had finger amputations as an outcome to hand surgery. I am a male age 58 now and of northwestern European ancestry.

Hi John, the cord affecting your pinkie appears to be in the palm. Most cords in the palm can be successfully treated with NA or Xiaflex. That leaves the pinkie nodule which you say is soft; so the question there is whether that is causing any contracture or is the start of a cord? I would in the first case discuss options for NA or Xiaflex, but not with a Dr you have no apparent trust with. NA requires greater skill, training, experience than Xiaflex and has less side effects or down time so you need to find the right Dr., and for Xiaflex I would want a doc who has done lots of them too. At some stage you might look into RT if both hands continue to progress. Best wishes SB

Edited 05/12/22 16:13