Volkmann's contracture

Volkmann’s Contracture Emily Matherne 12/12/15 A Volkmann’s contracture is a deformity of the hand, fingers, and wrist caused by injury to the muscles of the forearm. Another commonly used name is Ischemic Contracture. This deformity happens when there is a lack of blood flow to the forearm, which occurs when there is an increased pressure due to swelling causing a condition called compartment syndrome. Compartment syndrome can cause a Volkmann’s contracture. Injury to the arm, including a crash injury or fracture, leads to swelling that presses on blood vessels and decreases blood flow to the arm. When a person has prolonged blood flow it injures the nerves and muscles, causing them to become stiff and shortened. The muscle shortens…

Introduction: Upper limb ischemia presenting in the neonatal period is exceedingly rare1. Limb ischemia occurring in utero has three main causes: thrombosis, embolism, and in utero compression2. Neonatal arterial thrombosis and embolism are serious conditions that often result in high morbidity and mortality.3,4 Approximately 90% of neonatal arterial thromboembolic (TE) events are linked to iatragenic causes, including catheterization.4,5 TE events occurring in utero are especially rare, and can…

There are many treatment ideas that we can use in order to help treat our patient’s who have Volkmann’s contracture. We can make a custom orthosis/splint fabrication. The common splint that is used for Volkmann’s contracture is a resting hand splint. (Which looks like this…) As you can see, the wrist is in neutral with the digits extended and the thumb slightly abducted. This is a more natural way for an extremity to rest. A good part about making a custom splint is that you can contour it to…