Elbow, Wrist and Hand Injury Treatment

Scripps orthopedic hand specialists and teams diagnose and treat all types of injuries that can affect the hand, wrist or elbow, including:

• Arthritis — results in joint pain or joint disease including osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
• Baseball finger — an injury to the thin tendon responsible for straightening the end joint of a finger or thumb.
• Bursitis — inflammation of one or more of the major joints, including joints in the elbows.
• Carpal tunnel syndrome — the median nerve (the nerve responsible for sensation and movement in the hand) is compressed, leading to numbness, weakness or potential muscle damage in the hands and fingers.
• Chronic wrist pain — most commonly caused by carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis or gout.
• Congenital hand conditions — include conditions where the fingers are curved or bent (also called claw hand).
• Crushed or smashed fingers — involves trauma to one or more fingers.
• Cubital tunnel syndrome — the entrapment of the ulnar nerve, resulting in numbness in the little finger and portion of the ring finger.
• Distal biceps tendon tears — when the tendon connecting the biceps muscle of the upper arm to the elbow ruptures partially or completely.
• Fractures — breaks in bones of varying severity, and for the elbow can include olecranon fractures, distal humerus fractures and radial head fractures, among others.
• Joint dislocations — include perilunate dislocation of the wrist.
• Kienböck’s disease — a condition when the blood supply to one of two small bones in the wrist is interrupted.
• Tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow — characterized by pain on the outside of the elbow (tennis) or inside of the elbow (golf).
• Trigger finger — when a finger or thumb becomes locked in a bent position when the tunnels, or sheaths, that the tendons move through become inflamed.
• Skier’s thumb — when the ligament at the base of the thumb is torn.
• Tendinitis — an inflammation of tendons that can be caused by overuse and includes De Quervain’s tendinitis, a condition affecting the thumb.
• Ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) injuries — the ligament inside the elbow connecting the upper arm (humerus) with the forearm (ulna) is torn partially or completely.
• Ulnar nerve dysfunction (cubital tunnel syndrome) — the ulnar nerve is compressed by bone or soft tissue, causing numbness, tingling or weakness in the elbow, hand and little finger or ring finger
• Ulnar neuritis — a condition characterized by pain similar to electrical shocks passing from the inner elbow (“funny bone”) to the forearm.
• Valgus extension overload (VEO) — when the cartilage of the elbow is gradually worn away from repeated throwing motions, resulting in bone spurs.

Your orthopedic doctor may recommend a type of nonsurgical treatment, such as:

• Anti-inflammatory injections or other less invasive treatments can be provided to manage pain.
• Hand therapy and rehabilitation can be provided as a primary treatment or following a surgical procedure with the goal of helping patients regain strength and full range of motion.

• Carpal tunnel surgery — a procedure where a surgeon cuts the tendon that’s been putting pressure on the median nerve.
• Minimally invasive surgery — when a surgeon makes repairs through small incisions and the use of a tiny camera called an arthroscope.
• Wrist arthroscopy — is surgery for the reconstruction or replacement of the wrist.
• Tendon transfer surgery — a procedure that aims to restore wrist function for patients who have suffered a spinal cord injury.
• Reconstructive elbow surgery — including UCL reconstruction (“Tommy John surgery”), a procedure where a torn ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow is rebuilt using tendon tissue from somewhere else in the body or from a donor.
• Total elbow replacement — a procedure where the elbow joint is replaced with artificial parts inserted into the end of the upper arm bone (humerus) and outer forearm bone (ulna).
• Tennis elbow surgery — typically an outpatient minimally invasive procedure performed through small incisions in which the damaged tendon is removed or repaired.
• Replantation — the surgical reattachment of a finger or fingers completely severed from the body in a traumatic accident.
• Hand plastic surgery — a cosmetic reconstructive procedure that can be part of a treatment plan for traumatic orthopedic hand or wrist injuries.