Surgical Treatment for Chronic Tendon Mallet Injury

A variety of surgical options for chronic tendon mallet fingers have been reported. There are advantages and disadvantages to current surgical approaches. We introduce a surgical treatment for chronic tendon mallet injury that involves anatomical reconstruction of the terminal tendon and lateral band with palmaris longus (PL) tendon grafting. Harvested PL tendon is folded in 2 or divided into 2 slips. The graft is attached to a remnant of the original terminal tendon at the distal interphalangeal joint. Both half-slip tendons are passed under the transverse retinacular ligament and sutured side to side to the lateral band at the level of the proximal phalanx. This surgical technique has these advantages: (1) it provides anatomical reconstruction of the terminal tendon; (2) it is indicated regardless of the condition of the terminal tendon and the interval from the initial injury; and (3) it is easy to determine the tension of the grafted tendon. Anatomical reconstruction of the terminal tendon and both lateral bands with PL tendon grafting is useful for chronic tendon mallet injury.