Diagnosis
Since the Dupuytren's disease it is distinguished by very particular signs, its diagnosis requires a simple objective examination, during which the doctor assesses the severity of the symptomatological manifestations.
At the end of an initial evaluation, it is often advised to contact a hand specialist, who will indicate to the patient how best to proceed.
OBJECTIVE EXAMINATION
During the physical examination, the doctor carefully analyzes the signs reported by the patient and collects from the latter all the information regarding the symptoms felt.
For the purposes of diagnosis, the following are fundamental elements: skin thickening in the palm of the hand, the presence of one or more nodules on the palm of the hand, flexion of one or more fingers and the inability to grip certain objects.
SPECIALIST CONSULTATION: WHY ‰ IS IT FUNDAMENTAL?
The consultation of a hand specialist is essential, to know if the disorder will worsen or not in the future and if surgery is needed.
Furthermore, should the operation be necessary, it allows to establish which is the most suitable type of intervention.
Therefore, the next step to the physical examination, performed by your doctor, is to contact an expert in hand pathologies and book a specialist visit.
Treatment
The therapeutic choice for the treatment of Dupuytren's disease is very wide: there are, in fact, non-surgical procedures, such as radiotherapy and injections of collagenase of Clostridium histolyticum, and more or less invasive surgical procedures, such as percutaneous needle fasciotomy, palmar fasciotomy, and fascectomy.
The adoption of one treatment rather than another depends exclusively on the severity of the symptoms and on what emerged from the specialist consultation.
According to doctors, if Dupuytren's disease:
- It is mild and does not affect daily manual activities (driving, holding cutlery, etc.): it is not necessary to intervene.
- It is in a moderate form and partially affects manual activities: it is first necessary to plan an "adequate non-surgical therapy; subsequently, if this fails, it is necessary to switch to surgical therapy.
- He is in severe form and markedly affects manual activities, it is necessary to operate the affected hand.
