Strauch RJ, Strauch CB. Extensor pollicis brevis tendon can hyperextend thumb interphalangeal joint in absence of extensor pollicis longus: Case report and review of the literature. World J Orthop 2016; 7(7): 448-451 [PMID: 27458556 DOI: 10.5312/wjo.v7.i7.448]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Robert J Strauch, MD, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Columbia University, 622 West 168th Street, PH11-1119, New York, NY 10032, United States. robertjstrauch@hotmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Orthopedics
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Orthop. Jul 18, 2016; 7(7): 448-451 Published online Jul 18, 2016. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v7.i7.448
Extensor pollicis brevis tendon can hyperextend thumb interphalangeal joint in absence of extensor pollicis longus: Case report and review of the literature
Robert J Strauch, Carolyn B Strauch
Robert J Strauch, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States
Carolyn B Strauch, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NY 03755, United States
Author contributions: All authors contributed to the acquisition of data, writing, and revision of this manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: Attached-no formal IRB approval needed for case report.
Informed consent statement: The patient involved in this study gave his verbal consent to inclusion in this case report.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflict of interests.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Robert J Strauch, MD, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Columbia University, 622 West 168th Street, PH11-1119, New York, NY 10032, United States. robertjstrauch@hotmail.com
Telephone: +1-212-3054272 Fax: +1-212-3054040
Received: January 30, 2016 Peer-review started: February 1, 2016 First decision: April 15, 2016 Revised: April 17, 2016 Accepted: May 7, 2016 Article in press: May 9, 2016 Published online: July 18, 2016 Processing time: 162 Days and 16.4 Hours
Abstract
We are reporting a case of extensor pollicis longus tendon rupture which did not require tendon transfer owing to the ability of the intact extensor pollicis brevis (EPB) to fully hyperextend the thumb interphalangeal joint. The thumb metacarpophalangeal joint was also able to be fully actively extended by the EPB. Previous anatomical studies have demonstrated that the insertional anatomy of the EPB tendon is highly variable and sometimes inserts onto the extensor hood and distal phalanx, which is likely the mechanism by which our patient was able to fully extend the thumb interphalangeal joint. Despite the potential for the EPB to extend the IP joint of the thumb, virtually all previously reported cases of extensor pollicis longus (EPL) tendon rupture had deficits of thumb IP extension requiring tendon transfer. This case highlights the potential ability of the EPB tendon to completely substitute for the function of the EPL tendon in providing thumb IP joint extension.
